Donny Innes (16 September 1917 – 21 January 2012) was a

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 ...

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 and a doctor who worked as a general practitioner (GP).

Early life

Innes was born on 16 September 1917 in Aberdeen Scotland. His father was a physician and his mother a GP.

Rugby Union career

Amateur career

While studying medicine at the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen ( sco, University o' 'Aiberdeen; abbreviated as ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; gd, Oilthigh Obar Dheathain) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Sc ...

, he played for the

Aberdeen University , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...

rugby union side. His pre-war Scotland caps came with the university side. He played for

Aberdeen GSFP Aberdeen Grammar School FP RFC, also known as Aberdeen Grammar, are an amateur rugby union club based in Aberdeen, Scotland. They currently compete in the . The club plays its home games at Rubislaw in the city's west end. Honours *Scottish Na ...

. He was a notable rugby sevens player and led the Co-Optimists to victory in the Murrayfield Sevens tournament in 1939. He played sevens with Aberdeen Nomads that same year.

Provincial career

He was capped for the combined North of Scotland District side in 1935 while only a teenager, playing against a touring

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

side. He was capped for the standalone North of Scotland District He scored a try against Midlands District in

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country in ...

. He made the

Scotland Probables 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 ...

side in December 1947.

International career

He was capped 8 times for

. He was one of only 5 Scotland internationalists who played before and after the second World War. He also played in 5 services International matches during the war; and the Victory international against England at Twickenham in 1946.

Refereeing career

He refereed the

Blues Trial Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the African- ...

match against

Whites Trial White is a racialized classification of people and a skin color specifier, generally used for people of European origin, although the definition can vary depending on context, nationality, and point of view. Description of populations as ...

in the 1951–52 season.

Administrative career

He was on the committee of

North and Midlands North and Midlands - and now known as Caledonia - is a select provincial amateur rugby union team that draws its players mainly from north of Scotland, roughly corresponding from around Stirling northwards. Historically the North and Midlands te ...

. He was the

Scottish Rugby Union The Scottish Rugby Union (SRU; gd, Aonadh Rugbaidh na h-Alba) is the governing body of rugby union in Scotland. Styled as Scottish Rugby, it is the second oldest Rugby Union, having been founded in 1873. The SRU oversees the national league s ...

president from 1973–74. He became the

president in 1991.

Military career

He was commissioned into the Royal Army Medical Corps as an officer. He saw active service with the 155 and 156 Field Ambulance companies attached to the 52 Lowland Division. When the war finished he was at the rank of Major. He continued with the military after the war in the Territorial Army.

Medical career

Innes completed his medical training as a doctor in 1940. He completed his residency at Woodend and Foresterhill Hospitals. He became a GP after the war at a practice in Rubislaw Terrace. He became a medical officer for HM Prison Craiginches in 1949 until he retired. He was present at Scotland's last execution in 1963. Innes died in Aberdeen on 21 January 2012 at the age of 94.

References

1917 births 2012 deaths Scottish rugby union players Scotland international rugby union players Aberdeen GSFP RFC players North of Scotland (standalone) players Scotland Probables players North of Scotland (combined side) players Co-Optimist Rugby Club players Aberdeen University RFC players Aberdeen Nomads RFC players Presidents of the Scottish Rugby Union Rugby union players from Aberdeen Scottish rugby union referees Scottish Districts referees 20th-century Scottish medical doctors Scottish general practitioners Rugby union centres {{Scotland-rugbyunion-bio-stub