Chilla Wilson

Last updated

Chilla Wilson
Birth nameCharles Roy Wilson
Date of birth(1931-05-04)4 May 1931
Place of birth Brisbane, Queensland
Date of death2 September 2016(2016-09-02) (aged 85)
School Brisbane Grammar School
Marist College Ashgrove
University University of Queensland
Occupation(s)Gynaecologist
Rugby union career
Position(s) Flanker
Amateur team(s)
YearsTeamApps(Points)
1951–57 University of Queensland ()
1958–59 Army R.C. (Brisbane) ()
Edinburgh Wanderers ()
1966–68 Wests Brisbane [1] ()
Provincial / State sides
YearsTeamApps(Points)
1952–59 Queensland ()
1963–64 London Counties [2] ()
International career
YearsTeamApps(Points)
1958–59 Australia 12 (0)

Charles "Chilla" Roy Wilson (4 May 1931 – 2 September 2016) was an Australian national representative rugby union flanker and national captain. He was tour manager on a number of Wallaby international tours of the 1980s including the 1984 Wallaby Grand Slam tour of the British Isles. [3]

Contents

Family and early life

Wilson was born at Ashgrove in Queensland. He attended Marist College Ashgrove initially (which was evacuated to Eagle Heights at Mt. Tamborine in the wartime years between 1942 and 1944) and then Brisbane Grammar School where he played schoolboy rugby. [4] Wilson continued playing at the University of Queensland, [5] while he pursued his medical studies. His older brother Dr Fergus Wilson, who later became an orthopaedic surgeon, was also involved with rugby at the university and later coached various teams. [2] [4]

Playing career

While playing for University, Wilson won the Brisbane Premiership five times. [4] He was first selected to represent Queensland against a touring side in 1952 and then again four years later when a South African side was visiting.

After completing his medical training at the Mater Hospital in Brisbane, he joined the army as a Medical Officer for two years. [4] It was while playing for the army rugby team that he was selected for Australia. Wilson made his international debut in 1957, starting as a flanker for the Wallabies against the All Blacks in Sydney, [6] and although he was the incumbent Queensland state captain he was not selected for the 1957–58 Australia rugby union tour of Britain, Ireland and France. [7]

In 1958 with Wilson as captain, Queensland beat New South Wales in the interstate series for only the second time since the war and Wilson was rewarded with the national captaincy of the 1958 Wallabies to tour New Zealand. Wilson captained Australia in 11 of 13 games played including three Tests. [8] Although Australia won the second Test the final tour record had the Wallabies winning only six games of thirteen games and drawing one.

Wilson made a further state appearance against the visiting British & Irish Lions in 1959 but this would be his last representative game in Australia. All told he played for Australia twelve times, four of which were Tests and captained the side in eleven of those appearances.

In the early 1960s Wilson undertook post-graduate studies in England and Scotland and played with the Edinburgh Wanderers. In 1963 & '64 he was selected in a London Counties side who played against the visiting All Blacks.

Team manager

At the end of his career Wilson captain-coached a side at Wests Brisbane, [1] and then began to manage the Queensland state team and later the national team. He managed the 1982 Australia rugby union tour of New Zealand and the 1983 Australia rugby union tour of Italy and France. The following year he was an integral part of the Wallabies' coming-of-age on the 1984 Grand Slam tour of Britain and Ireland.

Howell quotes from Mark Ella's book of the tour Paths to Victory that in 1984 Wilson managed in the style of a benevolent, big brother [7] and directly quotes Ella:

I couldn't think of a better manager. I played for Australia for six years. Thank God I had Chilla Wilson for three of them. With Jonesy up there dominating everything, Chilla was the perfect foil. He was quiet, unobtrusive and didn't make a lot of noise. In fact, you wouldn't know Chilla was the manager until the time came for somebody to get up and say the right thing. The biggest thing Chilla had in his favour was that everybody loved him. We gave him a hard time, but nobody wanted to be the one that let him down. He was the perfect player's manager. [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cyril Towers</span> Rugby player

Cyril Towers was an Australian rugby union player, a state and national representative centre who made 57 appearances for the Wallabies, played in 19 Test matches and captained the national team on three occasions in 1937.

Michael Patrick Thomas Lynagh, is an Australian former rugby union player who played 66 Tests at fly-half and six Tests at inside centre between 1984-1995. Lynagh was capped 72 times for Australia, and was captain from 1993 to 1995.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Loane</span> Ophthalmologist and former rugby player

Dr Mark Edward Loane AM FRANZCO FRACS is an Australian ophthalmic surgeon and former rugby union player. He completed medical school and trained as an ophthalmologist in Queensland, where he continues to practice in both the public and private health systems. Loane was proclaimed Member of the Order of Australia in 2011 for his service to medicine, particularly Indigenous eye health.

Geoffrey Colin Richardson is an Australian former national representative rugby league and rugby union player – a dual-code international. He played union at fly-half and league at five-eighth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johnnie Wallace</span> Rugby player

Arthur Cooper "Johnnie" Wallace was an Australian rugby union player, a state and national representative three-quarter who captained the Waratahs on 25 occasions in the 1920s as well as representing Scotland early in his career.

The 1984 Australia rugby union tour of Britain and Ireland was a series of eighteen matches played by the Australia national rugby union team in Britain and Ireland between 17 October and 15 December 1984. The Australian team won thirteen matches, drew one and lost four but notably won all four of their international matches.

Vayro William Wilson, DSC was an Australian naval officer and a state and national representative rugby union player who captained the Wallabies in three Test matches immediately prior to the Second World War. He was selected to captain the ill-fated 1939–40 Australia rugby union tour of Britain and Ireland, which was cancelled because of the outbreak of war.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tony Shaw (rugby union)</span> Rugby player

Anthony Alexander Shaw is an Australian former rugby union player. A Queensland state and national representative flanker, Shaw captained the national side consistently from 1978 to 1982.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob McCowan</span> Australia international rugby union player

Robert Herman McCowan was a pioneer Australian rugby union player, a state and national representative fullback who played in his country's first Test series of 1899, captaining the national side on one occasion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stan Wickham</span> Australia international rugby union player (1877-1960)

Stan Wickham was a pioneer Australian rugby union player, a state and national representative centre who captained the Australian national side on a number of occasions in the early 1900s. He was tour captain for the inaugural Wallaby overseas tour, that to New Zealand in 1905.

Allen Martindale Oxlade was an Australian rugby union player a state and national representative hooker who captained the Wallabies in 1907. He was also a club rower, flat race runner and cyclist.

William Thornton Watson, DSO, MC, DCM was a New Zealander who served as an officer in the Australian Imperial Force in both World Wars. Prior to and after the First World War he had a distinguished rugby union career, representing Australia in eight Test matches and captaining the national side on three occasions. During the New Guinea Campaign in the Second World War he was the Commanding Officer of the Papuan Infantry Battalion. Following the war, he served as Australia's Vice – Consul to New York.

James P. Flynn was an Australian rugby union player, a state and national representative centre and half-back. His representative career lasted from 1912 to 1914 and he captained the national side on one occasion in 1913, the youngest player to ever do so. He was later a Queensland state selector.

Desmond Michael Connor is an Australian former rugby union halfback who represented internationally both the Australian and New Zealand national rugby union teams. He is an inductee in the Australian Rugby Union Hall of Fame.

The 1912 Australia rugby union tour of Canada and the United States was a collection of friendly rugby union games undertaken by the Australia national rugby union team against various invitational teams from Canada and the U.S, and also against the US national team.

Jimmy Clark was an Australian rugby union player, a flanker who made five representative Test appearances for the Australian national team in the 1930s, captaining in the side in one of these matches. He made 15 appearances for the Queensland state team from 1930 being the period of the revival of the code in Queensland, following its dormancy since World War I.

The 1982 Australia rugby union tour of New Zealand was a series of fourteen matches played by the Australia national rugby union team in New Zealand between July and September 1982. The Wallabies won ten of the fourteen matches and lost the other four. The international match series against the New Zealand national rugby union team resulted in a 2–1 win for New Zealand, who won the first and third matches, with Australia winning the second match. New Zealand thereby regained the Bledisloe Cup, which had been held by Australia since 1979.

Neville Cottrell (1927–2014) was an Australian rugby union footballer. A Queensland and national representative forward, he played fourteen Test matches for Australia, including two as captain.

Keith Charles "Arch" Winning was an Australian national representative rugby union player for Australia. He captained the national side in the sole Test match appearance he made.

Geoffrey Arnold Shaw is an Australian former national representative rugby union player who played for and captained the Wallabies. He made state representative appearances for both New South Wales and Queensland over an eleven-year period from 1969.

References

  1. 1 2 "Club Coaches". Wests Rugby. 2015. Archived from the original on 18 January 2015. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Charles Wilson". Australian Rugby. 2015. Archived from the original on 23 January 2015. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  3. ↑ "Vale Charles 'Chilla' Wilson". Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 28 September 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Wilson, Charles (7 December 2001). "Dr Charles 'Chilla' Wilson, Army Wallaby" (PDF). Cooee History and Heritage (Interview). Janet Roberts Billett. Army Rugby. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 January 2015. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  5. ↑ "R. Union final to Sydney Varsity". The Courier-Mail. 25 May 1951.
  6. ↑ "Chilla Wilson". espn scrum. ESPN. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  7. 1 2 Howell p164
  8. ↑ Stats Guru
  9. ↑ Ella Path to Victory quoted in Howell p165

Bibliography

Sporting positions
Preceded by Australian national rugby union captain
1958		Succeeded by
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.