Gordon Rimmer (28 February 1925 – 2002) was an English

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 who played in the scrum-half position. Rimmer played club rugby with Southport RFC and

Waterloo FC Waterloo Rugby Club (known as Firwood Waterloo for sponsorship reasons) is an English Rugby Union team based at St Anthonys Road, Blundellsands, Merseyside. Once a powerhouse of the English rugby union game, the men's 1st XV now play in Nort ...

, 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 ...

county, was capped 12 times 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 ...

, and was a member of the British Lions team that toured in 1950.

Rugby career

Rimmer played for Southport RFC and

team. He also represented

in the

County Championship The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It bec ...

, where he played in a record six finals between 1947 and 1955. Rimmer appeared three times for a combined North-Western Counties team against international touring teams, Australia in 1947, South Africa in 1951 and New Zealand in 1954. He also made one appearance for the

Barbarians A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by some to be less c ...

invitational team against East Midlands in 1951. Rimmer made his England national team début against Wales in Cardiff during the

1949 Five Nations Championship The 1949 Five Nations Championship was the twentieth series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the fifty-fifth series of the northern hemisphere rugby un ...

. He made a further appearance against Ireland, but didn't feature in the games against France and Scotland. His first appearance for England at home in Twickenham came the following year, against Wales. Rimmer was one of only three English players to be included in the British Lions' 1950 tour to New Zealand and Australia. He played in a total of eight games on tour, including one of the test matches against New Zealand, with the other seven appearances against local opposition. In one of these provincial matches, Rimmer played in the fly-half position, making him the only scrum-half to play out of position during a Lions since 1930. Following his tour with the Lions, Rimmer played three of England's four matches in the

1951 Five Nations Championship The 1951 Five Nations Championship was the twenty-second series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the fifty-seventh series of the northern hemisphere ru ...

. In 1952, Rimmer played in the Five Nations match against Wales and also in the match against South Africa as part of their tour. He did not feature for England in 1953, but returned the following year to play in three of England's games during the

1954 Five Nations Championship The 1954 Five Nations Championship was the twenty-fifth series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the sixtieth series of the northern hemisphere rugby un ...

, winning all three matches which led to them sharing the Championship title with France and Wales. The game against Scotland was to be his last for the national team.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rimmer, Gordon 1925 births 2002 deaths English rugby union players England international rugby union players British & Irish Lions rugby union players from England Barbarian F.C. players Lancashire County RFU players Sportspeople from Southport Rugby union players from Merseyside Rugby union scrum-halves