George Cookson (25 March 1874 – 15 March 1950) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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 ...

half-back who played club rugby for

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. Cookson was selected for the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...

on the 1899 tour of Australia playing in all four Test matches.

Rugby career

At the height of Cookson's rugby career, he was playing his club rugby for Manchester. He also played for Lancashire at county level, and gained a North of England cap in 1898. In 1899 he was approached by

Matthew Mullineux Matthew Mullineux MC (8 August 1867 – 13 February 1945) was an English rugby union scrum-half who, although not capped for England, was selected for two British Lions tours. He gained one cap during the 1896 tour to South Africa and cap ...

to join the British Isles rugby tour of Australia. Cookson played in 18 of the tour matches and all four Test matches against the Australia national team.George Cookson lions profile
lionsrugby.com In the first Test he was partnered at centre with the tour captain, Mullineux, but after the team was defeated, Mullineux dropped himself from the team, bringing in

Charlie Adamson Charles Young Adamson (18 April 1875 – 17 September 1918) was an English international rugby union utility back who played club rugby for Durham. Adamson played international rugby for the British Isles team on its 1899 tour of Australia ...

from three-quarters to team-up with Cookson for the final three Tests. The selection tactic proved successful with the British winning the remaining contests with the Australian side. On returning to Britain, Cookson continued to represent Manchester and in 1900 was invited to join British touring team the Barbarians. Despite being a British Isles player and being capped at North of England level, Cookson was never selected to play for the England national team.

Bibliography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cookson, George 1874 births 1950 deaths English rugby union players British & Irish Lions rugby union players from England Barbarian F.C. players