Arthur George Paul (24 July 1864 – 14 January 1942) was an Irish sportsman who played

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

as a full back, playing club rugby for Swinton and represented

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

Arthur Paul cricket career
cricinfo.com as a first-class

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by s ...

er. Paul was not selected for the England or Ireland rugby teams, but in 1888 he was chosen for the New Zealand and Australia tour as part of the first British Isles team.

Rugby career

In 1888, Paul was invited to join the first British rugby overseas tour. The tour was managed by two cricketers, Arthur Shrewsbury and

Alfred Shaw Alfred Shaw (29 August 1842 – 16 January 1907) was an eminent Victorian cricketer and rugby footballer, who bowled the first ball in Test cricket and was the first to take five wickets in a Test innings (5/35). He made two trips to North Ameri ...

, but it was not supported by any of the rugby unions and no matches were arranged with national teams. The tour took in both Australia and New Zealand and 35 rugby matches were played against invitational teams. Paul was selected to play at full back, and took part in 29 matches, kicking 13 conversions and one dropped goal.

Bibliography

References

External links

Search for "Paul" at espn.co.uk (1888 British Isles tourists statistics missing (31 December 2017))
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paul, Arthur George 1864 births 1942 deaths British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Ireland Irish cricketers Irish rugby union players Lancashire cricketers Cricketers from Belfast Rugby union fullbacks Swinton Lions players North v South cricketers Cricketers from Northern Ireland Rugby union players from Belfast