Angus William "Gus" Black (6 May 1925 – 14 February 2018) was a Scottish international

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player, who played for and the

Lions The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus '' Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphic; adult ...

.Bath, Richard (ed.) (2007) ''The Scotland Rugby Miscellany''. Vision Sports Publishing Ltd. . p. 118

Rugby Union career

Amateur career

Black played for

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted ...

. He went on to play for

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

and

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

during his

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...

. He played for the Royal Air Force Rugby Union in 1954.

Provincial career

Black was capped for Edinburgh District. He played for the Cities District side in their match against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in October 1947. He turned out for the Scotland Possibles side in 1947.

International career

Black made his first international appearance on New Year's Day 1947 while studying

medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...

at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

. He also played for Edinburgh University rugby team, and was on the 1950 British Lions tour to New Zealand and Australia where he played in two tests, playing in a 9–9 draw in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

and a 0–8 loss in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

Death

Black lived in

Lundin Links Lundin Links is a small village in the parish of Largo on the south coast of Fife in eastern central Scotland. The village was largely built in the 19th century to accommodate tourists visiting the village of Lower Largo. Lundin Links is conti ...

in Fife. After moving into a care home in the 1990s, Black died in February 2018 and at the time of his death was the oldest living Lions player.

References

1925 births 2018 deaths Scottish rugby union players Scotland international rugby union players British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Scotland Edinburgh University RFC players Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Leicester Tigers players Scotland Possibles players Edinburgh District (rugby union) players Cities District players Royal Air Force rugby union players 20th-century Royal Air Force personnel Rugby union scrum-halves {{Scotland-rugbyunion-bio-stub