The families of the only two men known to have played for both the British rugby union side and for the Wallabies have met at the Australian War Memorial, united not just by the oval ball but by Gallipoli. Both of them represented the British side (which later became the British and Irish Lions) and the Wallabies - and both served in the disastrous but heroic landing in what is today Turkey but was then part of the Ottoman Empire. Blair Inskip Swannell was killed on April 25, 1915 at Anzac Cove on the first day of the Gallipoli campaign. He had played for the British Isles team against Australia - and then decided to stay in the country, eventually being selected for Australia against the British team. Thomas James "Rusty" Richards also served in the Australian Imperial Force in Gallipoli. He, too, took part in that first landing there but survived it. He was born in northern NSW and played rugby union for Australia but then went to England where he got back on the field and was selected for the British side. A testament to his legacy is the "Tom Richards Cup," the trophy awarded to whichever side wins the current series between the British and Irish Lions and the Wallabies (the second test is in Melbourne on Saturday - the Lions are one-up). It's not known if the two comrades on the playing field and the field of battle ever met but legend has it that Blair Swannell became a coach in Australia, and one of the players he coached was Tom Richards. This week, descendants of the two men met at the War Memorial and reviewed diaries and mementoes of the two men. Blair Swannell's great nephew, Robert Swannell, was in Australia for the current Lions tour and took the opportunity to meet the descendants of Tom Richards. "Blair Swannell was my great uncle, my grandfather's brother. He was the son of a relatively small farming family. When he was 15, he sailed to Australia for the first time. "He went back to England and was picked to go on his first Lions tour in 1899." He went back to England and then, something of an adventurer, he took his horse to the Boer War in South Africa for two years. "He came back to the UK,," Mr Swannell said, "and was picked again to go on his second Lions tour in 1904. He played against Australia." This time he stayed and put his rugby boots back on to play for Australia. Mr Swannell has been on something of a quest. He saw that Tom Richards had been recognised as the only man who had played for both sides and realised that this wasn't true - his ancestor had also done so, so he set about putting the record straight. "When I first started on this quest 10 years ago, Rugby Australia said on their website that they awarded the trophy for the winner of the test series between the Lions and Australia, and called it the Tom Richards Trophy because he was the only person who'd ever played for the Lions in Australia. "I pointed out that this wasn't true, at which point they changed the website to say he was the only Australian who had played." He was at the Australian War Memorial to see his relative commemorated. "It was so moving and to come here today and see his name on the roll of honor and see the absolutely wonderful way in which the sacrifice that these people made is commemorated. "I wanted to do that and It brings it It brings it all to life. I've never been to his grave in Gallipoli, but this is the next best thing." He met Paul Menck, Tom Richards' great grandson, and and his father Jim Menck, grandson of Lieutenant Thomas James Richards. "I love the fact that Blair has been recognised," Paul Menck said. "Fittingly, they both should be recognized as they have been, because they are the only two who have played for the Wallabies and the British Lions."