Ben Cairns (born 29 September 1985 in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

) is a former Scotland

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 ...

international who played for

Edinburgh Rugby Edinburgh Rugby (formerly Edinburgh Reivers, Edinburgh Gunners) is one of the two professional rugby union teams from Scotland. The club competes in the United Rugby Championship, along with the Glasgow Warriors, its oldest rival. Edinburgh pl ...

in the

Pro12 The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

. Cairns' position of choice is as a

Centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics * Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentri ...

and he can also operate at Full-back and on the

Wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...

. He won his First Cap for

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 ...

Rosario Rosario () is the largest city in the central provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe. The city is located northwest of Buenos Aires, on the west bank of the Paraná River. Rosario is the third-most populous ci ...

against

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

and then won his Second in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

against the same Opponents a Week later. Before that he was called up to the

squad for the

2008 Six Nations Championship The 2008 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2008 RBS 6 Nations because of sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the ninth series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship, the 114th series of the international championship. Fifteen ...

but was not used. Cairns' retirement from professional rugby due to injury was announced on 24 February 2014.

Club career

Cairns played at

Currie RFC Currie Rugby Football Club are an Edinburgh-based rugby union club in the Scottish Rugby Union, they currently play in the Scottish Premiership. Despite the name, "Currie" RFC is actually based in the neighbouring suburb of Balerno, and they pl ...

alongside his brother, former Scotland under-21 internationalist Mark, prior to his signing for the Scottish

team Edinburgh Rugby on a development contract in 2004, making his debut for the team in the 2005–06 season. Bizarrely, even though Cairns was a contracted apprentice with Edinburgh, he his Celtic League debut by playing for

Glasgow Warriors Glasgow Warriors are a professional rugby union side from Scotland. The team plays in the United Rugby Championship league and in the European Professional Club Rugby tournaments. In the 2014–15 season they won the Pro12 title and became t ...

as a replacement while on loan for the match against Ospreys in January 2006. He made his first competitive appearance in the black and red in May 2006, during Edinburgh’s Magners League match against Leinster at Murrayfield. Cairns was soon singled out as one of the young Scotland backs that may be able to break their distressing lack of creativity in the long-term after some sharp displays at regional level for Edinburgh in both the Magners League and Heineken Cup. He established himself in the team the following season, becoming an important part of the first team. Cairns was voted Edinburgh’s Young Player of the Year for the 2007–08 season. He was selected as Edinburgh captain for the first time in the League match against Newport Gwent Dragons in February 2008 and he responded with a try, underlining his growing importance to the team. The same year he recorded his 50th appearance for Edinburgh against Wasps in December 2008. He agreed a new three-season contract in May 2010, a deal that will see him spend his prime years at the capital club. His 100th club appearance came in the 1872 Cup derby against

at Firhill in December 2010. He suffered a pre-season knee injury with Edinburgh Rugby that ruled him out of the entire 2011–12 season, with his attention fixed on a 2012–13 return. He made his return to first team action in the Heiniken cup against

Racing Metro Racing 92 () is a French rugby union club based in suburban Paris that was formed in 2001 with the collaboration of the Racing Club de France and US Métro. They were called Racing Métro 92 between 2001 and 2015, when they changed the name t ...

in December 2012 following that with another appearance against

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

in January 2013.

International career

Cairns had already represented Scotland at all age-grade levels and 'A' level before making the step-up to full international level. He is the joint-leading try-scorer for the U21 side alongside club mate

Nick De Luca Nick De Luca (born 1 February 1984 in Dumfries, south west Scotland) is a retired, former Scottish international professional rugby union player. Early years De Luca was born in Dumfries and grew up in Lockerbie. Club rugby De Luca's posit ...

and has skippered both the U18 and U19 sides as well as in the IRB sevens circuit. In March 2007, he made his Scotland A debut as a substitute in the victory against Italy A at McDiarmid Park, Perth. He scored his first Scotland A try in the 37–15 victory against their Italian counterparts in Mogliano, near Venice, in February 2008, and followed up with another score in the 67–7 win against Ireland A three weeks later at McDiarmid Park. He went on to make his Scotland debut in the first Test loss to Argentina in June 2008 before playing a crucial part in the victory over the Pumas the following week tying the series one all. He won further caps against New Zealand and South Africa during the 2008 autumn internationals before scoring his first Test try against Canada at Pittodrie. In January 2009 he was selected in Frank Hadden's squad for the 2009 Six Nations. Cairns made a solitary appearance in the tournament, at outside centre against Wales, and was to make only one other international appearance in 2009. His slide out of the international picture continued in 2010, although at club level he made his 100th appearance for Edinburgh and secured a new three-year deal. Despite missing out on the 2011 Six Nations, he was called up to Scotland's provisional World Cup squad In May but missed out on a place in the final squad before suffering the knee injury that kept him out of action for over the next year.

References

External links

profile
on ESPN {{DEFAULTSORT:Cairns, Ben 1985 births Living people Rugby union players from Leeds People educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh Scottish rugby union players Edinburgh Rugby players Scotland international rugby union players Currie RFC players Glasgow Warriors players Rugby union centres