It's a rare piece. At the time of writing this, I couldn't find any other image of this rugby team (other than a second photo of the same team I have listed) anywhere online, for sale or otherwise. Take the opportunity to add this piece, quite possibly the only one in existence, to your collection. 

Although there is damage to the edges, the image is beautiful and largely unaffected. The heading, crown image, and ship name is all still visible. It also displays the name of the players, even the name of the captain of the team (W.J. Lutman), which is invaluable information. There are names such as C. Lowthorpe, G. Chetwade, J. Hefferman, and W.J. Angove. It appears the names are coordinated with where they stood in placement for the photo, so it can be assumed that the captain in the middle with the white shirt, and that the man holding the rugby ball is P. Kenny.

Approximate size: 15.25 inches x 13.25 inches (at its "fullest" edges)

HMS Hawke, launched in 1891, was the seventh British warship to be named Hawke. She was an Edgar-class protected cruiser. In September 1911 the Hawke collided with the ocean liner RMS Olympic. The damage smashed the Hawke's bow and damaged the stern of the Olympic.

In early 1897, Hawke deployed to Crete to serve in the International Squadron, a multinational force made up of ships of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, French Navy, Imperial German Navy, Italian Royal Navy (Regia Marina), Imperial Russian Navy, and Royal Navy that intervened in the 1897-1898 Greek uprising on Crete against rule by the Ottoman Empire. The uprising prompted Greece to land a Greek Army expeditionary force of 1,500 men on Crete to support the Cretan insurgency, which in turn precipitated the outbreak of the Greco-Turkish War of 1897, also known as the Thirty Days War, in April 1897. 

The war ended in a quick and disastrous Greek defeat, and the ceasefire agreement required the Greek Army to withdraw from Crete. Accordingly, the Greek expeditionary force embarked aboard Hawke on 23 May 1897 for transportation to Greece. The uprising on Crete continued, however, and the International Squadron continued to operate off Crete until December 1898. In August 1901 Hawke was paid off at Chatham and placed in the Fleet Reserve.

In February 1902 she received orders to prepare to convey relief crews to the Cape of Good Hope Station, and she was commissioned for this duty on 1 April. She left Chatham the following week with new crews for the British vessels Forte, Dwarf and Partridge, and arrived at Simon's Town on 10 May. She left South Africa ten days later, stopping at Saint Helena, Ascension, Sierra Leone, Las Palmas and Madeira before she arrived at Plymouth on 16 June 1902. 

She took part in the fleet review held at Spithead on 16 August 1902 for the coronation of King Edward VII. Following the review she left Chatham to convey relief crews for the vessels HMS Vulcan, HMS Foam, HMS Bruizer, HMS Dragon, and HMS Boxer, all serving in the Mediterranean. She arrived at fleet headquarters at Malta on 27 August. She returned to Chatham the following month with the relieved crews of the Vulcan, Boxer, Bruiser, and Foam. She paid off into the A division of the Fleet Reserve at Chatham on 4 October 1902.

In January 1903, she was again ordered to convey relief crews to ships on the Mediterranean station, this time HMS Pyramus, HMS Speedy, HMS Dryad, and HMS Imogene, all recommissioned for new terms on the station. The ship paid off in March 1903.

In November 1904, Hawke became Boy's Training Ship as part of the 4th Cruiser Squadron, serving in that role until August 1906, when she joined the torpedo school at Sheerness. In 1907, Hawke joined the Home Fleet.

In October 1914, the 10th Cruiser Squadron was deployed further south in the North Sea as part of efforts to stop German warships from attacking a troop convoy from Canada. On October 15th, the squadron was on patrol off Aberdeen, deployed in line abreast at intervals of about 16 km (10 miles). Hawke stopped at 9:30 am to pick up mail from sister ship Endymion. After recovering her boat with the mail, Hawke proceeded at 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph) without zig-zagging to regain her station, and was out of sight of the rest of the squadron when at 10:30 a single torpedo from the German submarine U-9 (which had sunk three British cruisers on 22 September), struck Hawke, which quickly capsized. 

The remainder of the squadron realised anything was amiss only when, after a further, unsuccessful attack on Theseus, the squadron was ordered to retreat at high speed to the northwest, and no response to the order was received from Hawke. The destroyer Swift was dispatched from Scapa Flow to search for Hawke and found a raft carrying twenty-two men, while a boat with a further forty-nine survivors was rescued by a Norwegian steamer. 524 officers and men died, including the ship's captain, with only 70 survivors (one man died of his wounds on 16 October).

Please inspect the pictures, as they give the best representation of condition. May have discoloring, edge or corner wear, marks, creases, fading, smudges, corner or edge bends, tears, or corners missing.

In particular, note that the edges are heavily damaged and non-existent in many areas, showing tears/rips. There are two main tears, one on the left side and the other the bottom right. There is tape on the back, put on by a previous owner. There are marks and discoloration that show its age, as this piece is over 125 years old.

(BB120 inventory number)