Cecil Ramalli Explained

Cecil Ramalli
Birth Date:10 June 1919
Birth Place:Mungindi, New South Wales
School:Hurlstone Agricultural High School
Ru Provinceyears1:1938–1939
Ru Province1:New South Wales
Ru Provinceapps1:4
Ru Provincepoints1:6
Repyears1:1938
Repteam1:Australia
Repcaps1:2
Reppoints1:0

Cecil Ramalli (10 June 1919 – 1998) was an Australian rugby union player and soldier. Ramalli played twice for Australia.

=Early life and education

Ramalli was born on 10 June 1919 to Ali Ramalli and Adeline Doyle in Mungindi. His father was a merchant from Lahore who arrived in Sydney in 1898 to work as a hawker. Actual name of his father was Reham Ali son of Nasher from village Langrial District Gujrat Punjab Pakistan..who was Muslim...Ramalli's mother was an Aboriginal Australian woman from near Mungindi, New South Wales.[1]

In 1934 Ramalli began attending Hurlstone Agricultural High School in Sydney.

Rugby career

At Hurlstone, his aptitude for rugby was discovered. By his third season of school rugby, he had become the captain of the school's first XV.

Ramalli made his representative debut for New South Wales at the age of 18 in 1938.[2]

In August 1938 Ramalli made his debut for Australia in the second Test match between Australia and New Zealand at the Brisbane Exhibition Ground. He also played the third Test in Sydney, which would be his final match for the Wallabies.

Ramalli was named in a 29-player squad to tour Britain in 1939. The team arrived in Portsmouth the day before Britain declared war on Germany. With the outbreak of war, the team returned to Australia.

War service

In 1940 Ramalli enlisted with the Australian Imperial Force after initially trying to join the Royal Australian Air Force and the Royal Australian Navy.[3] [4]

Notes and References

  1. News: The forgotten story of ... Wallabies star and Nagasaki survivor Cecil Ramalli . The Guardian . 10 November 2015 . 28 October 2016 . Skene, Patrick.
  2. Web site: Historic Wallabies Player Profile . Australian Rugby Union . 28 October 2016.
  3. News: C. Ramalli in A.I.F. – would not wait any longer . The Sun . 26 June 1940 . 1 November 2016 . Carrick, Vince . Sydney . 20.
  4. Web site: Ramalli, Cecil . Commonwealth of Australia . World War Two Nominal Roll . 31 October 2016.