Arthur George Guillemard (18 December 1845 – 7 August 1909)
espn.co.uk, accessed March 2021. was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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 ...

fullback who represented for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in the world's first rugby international in 1871. Guillemard was also a notable sporting administrator and one of the most important early international rugby referees.

Rugby career

Arthur George Guillemard was born 18 December 1845 in

Lewisham Lewisham () is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the Historic counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified i ...

, London. He was a founder member of an early cricket club at Rugby School.Butterflies Cricket Club
, butterfliescc.com, accessed March 2009 Guillemard played club rugby for

West Kent Kent is a traditional county in South East England with long-established human occupation. Prehistoric Kent Kent has been occupied since the Lower Palaeolithic as finds from the quarries at Fordwich and Swanscombe attest. The Swanscombe skul ...

, and in 1871 he was selected for the England team as a fullback in the very first international rugby match on 27 March 1871 played against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. He also served as a referee. Guillemard was president of the

Rugby Football Union The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the Sports governing body, national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby ...

from 1878 to 1882. He died 7 August 1909 aged 63 years in Lewisham. EnglandRugby1871WestKent

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guillemard, Arthur G 1845 births 1909 deaths England international rugby union players English rugby union players English rugby union referees Rugby union fullbacks Rugby union players from Greenwich