The school had a strong rugby tradition having already produced a number of international players by the time Partridge attended.
After the war ended in June 1902, he returned to the United Kingdom on the SS Syria two months later, arriving in Southampton in early September.
[2] Whilst serving there, he joined the Pretoria Harlequins[10] and latterly the provincial side, Transvaal, later to be renamed the Golden Lions.
After he returned to the United Kingdom, whilst continuing to serve in the Army, he played club rugby for Blackheath[2] and London Welsh[2] captaining the former in the 1906 season.
Ironically, the match was played against Wales which meant that Joseph Edward Crawshay Partridge's only appearance in a Welsh international fixture was as a member of the opposition.
The idea of forming the Army Rugby Union, came to him whilst he was reading a newspaper on a train during a tour of Scotland with Blackheath RFC in the season 1905–06.