George Ritchie (16 April 1848 – 31 January 1896) 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 player. He played as a Forward. Playing in the very first international, Ritchie scored a try which was chalked off by the umpire

Hely Hutchinson Almond Hely Hutchinson Almond (12 August 1832 – 7 March 1903) was a Scottish classics scholar, headmaster of Loretto School from 1862 to 1903. Early life Almond was born in 1832 in Glasgow, a son of the Reverend George Almond. In 1845, he entered G ...

. The resulting pressure, though, did break in Scotland's favour with Angus Buchanan scoring that first try. Notwithstanding, Ritchie always maintained that his try was valid and should have stood.

Rugby Union career

Amateur career

Ritchie played for Merchistons in Edinburgh.

International career

Ritchie played in the first ever rugby union international match for

against

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 27 March 1871 at Raeburn Place, Edinburgh. In the match, he almost scored the first ever international try. He went over the try-line but a clutch of bodies were on top of him. An Englishman claimed to have control of the ball and the umpire decided it was Scotland's hack off 5 yards from the line. Scotland then scored a try and goal from the resultant set-piece; the try coming from Angus Buchanan. It was Ritchie's only international appearance for

and he always maintained that he scored a perfectly good try, throughout the rest of his life.The History of Scottish Rugby. Sandy Thorburn He died in Kelso,

in 1896.

References

1848 births 1896 deaths People educated at Merchiston Castle School Scottish rugby union players Merchistonian FC players Scotland international rugby union players Rugby union players from Edinburgh Rugby union forwards {{Scotland-rugbyunion-bio-stub