The signatures of the 1873 England rugby union team who played Scotland at Hamilton Crescent, Glasgow, 3rd March 1873 (only the third international ma

The signatures of the 1873 England rugby union team who played Scotland at Hamilton Crescent, Glasgow, 3rd March 1873 (only the third international match in rugby history): believed to be the earliest set of international rugby autographs ever to have been offered at auction, 16 signatures in pencil on a sheet of watermarked paper, comprising: Murray Marshall, Frederick Mills, William Fletcher, Harold Freeman, Cecil Boyle, Stephen Finney, Sydney Morse, Frederick Stokes (captain), Alfred St. George Hamersley, Ernest Still, Dawson Turner, James Bush, Cyril Rickards, Henry Lawrence, James Body and Ernest Cheston, The early rugby internationals were played 20-a-side. Therefore there are four absent signatures from the group, namely Charles Vanderspar, James Mackinlay, Francis Luscombe and Henry Marsh. 5,000 spectators attended the match which ended as a total stalemate, 0-0. The world's first rugby international match took place at Raeburn Place, Edinburgh, on 27th March 1871 with Scotland winning by a margin of 1 goal. Of the England signatories represented in this lot, three of the players took part in this historic match: Frederick Stokes (captain), Alfred St. George Hamersley & Dawson Turner. The second international was held at the Kennington Oval in London 5th March 1872 with England winning by a margin of 2 goals to 1. By this, the third match, therefore, all three possible results had been achieved. A summary of the England careers of the 16 England players is as follows: Murray Marshall (Forward, Blackheath, 10 caps 1873-1878) Frederick Mills (Full Back, Marlborough Nomads, 2 caps 1872-1873) William Fletcher (Forward, Marlborough Nomads, 2 caps 1873-1875) Harold Freeman (Three Quarters, Marlborough Nomads, 3 caps 1872-1874) Cecil Boyle (Half Back, Oxford University, 1 cap 1873) Stephen Finney (Half Back, I.C.E. College, 2 caps 1872-1873) Sydney Morse (Full Back, Law Club, 3 caps 1873-1875) the captain Frederick Stokes (Forward, Blackheath, 3 caps 1871-1873) Alfred St. George Hamersley (Forward, Marlborough Nomads, 4 caps 1871-1874) Ernest Still (Forward, Ravenscourt Park, 1 cap 1873) Dawson Turner (Forward, Richmond, 6 caps 1871-1875) James Bush (Forward, Clifton, 5 caps 1872-1876) Cyril Rickards (Forward, Gipsies, 1 cap 1873) Henry Lawrence (Forward, Richmond, 4 caps 1873-1875) James Body (Forward, Gipsies, 2 caps 1872-1873) Ernest Cheston (Forward, Law Club, 5 caps 1873-1876)