Arthur Esmonde Martelli was an Irish

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 international rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 fullback back who played club rugby for Dublin University

Dublin University Football Club

Dublin University Football Club is the rugby union club of the University of Dublin, Trinity College, in Dublin, Ireland.-History:...

. Martelli played international rugby for the British Isles

British and Irish Lions

The British and Irish Lions is a rugby union team made up of players from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales...

 team on its 1899 tour of Australia

1899 British Lions tour to Australia

The 1899 British Isles tour to Australia was the fourth rugby union tour by a British Isles team and the second to Australia; though the first tour in 1888 was a private venture, making the 1899 tour the first official undertaking of Australia...

. He was described by British Isles tour manager, Matthew Mullineux

Matthew Mullineux

Matthew Mullineux MC was an English rugby union scrum-half who, although not capped for England, was selected for two British Lions tours. He gained one cap during the 1896 tour to South Africa and captained the 1899 tour of Australia...

, as having 'an excellent drop, punt and place kick'.

Rugby career

Martelli is one of several players, who undertook the 1899 British Isles tour, of which little is known. He is classed as playing for Dublin University, though the University rugby club does not have him recorded as being on the role of Trinity players. There is some evidence that Martelli was not actually a Trinity player as recorded in most books and may have actually played for Dublin Wanderers. Despite the confusion of his club background, he is known to have toured with the British Isles and played in 12 of the 21 arranged matches. Martelli was the first choice fullback for the opening games of the tour, and in the second invitational game, against New South Wales

New South Wales Waratahs

The New South Wales Waratahs are an Australian rugby union football team, representing the majority of New South Wales in the Super 15 Super Rugby competition...

, he scored all the British points, with a dropped goal in a narrow 4-3 victory.

After missing the game against Metropolitan, Martelli was chosen to be the fullback for the First Test against Australia

Australia national rugby union team

The Australian national rugby union team is the representative side of Australia in rugby union. The national team is nicknamed the Wallabies and competes annually with New Zealand and South Africa in the Tri-Nations Series, in which they also contest the Bledisloe Cup with New Zealand and the...

. The game ended in a 13-3 victory for the Australians, and Martelli was replaced for the final three Tests by Charles Thompson

Charles Thompson (rugby player)

Charles Edward Thompson was an English international rugby union fullback who played club rugby for Manchester and county rugby for Lancashire...

. Although Martelli played in no further test matches, he still played in another nine games in the tour, scoring a penelty goal in the encounter with New England at Armidale

Armidale, New South Wales

Armidale is a city in the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia. Armidale Dumaresq Shire had a population of 19,485 people according to the 2006 census. It is the administrative centre for the Northern Tablelands region...

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Despite never playing for the Ireland national team

Ireland national rugby union team

The Ireland national rugby union team represents the island of Ireland in rugby union. The team competes annually in the Six Nations Championship and every four years in the Rugby World Cup, where they reached the quarter-final stage in all but two competitions The Ireland national rugby union...

, Martelli continued his involvement with Irish rugby, and refereed the Scotland vs. Wales match in the 1903 Home Nations Championship

1903 Home Nations Championship

The 1903 Home Nations Championship was the twenty-first series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 10 January and 21 March. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.-Table:-Results:...

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