George Ralph Gibson (March 1878 – October 1939)
Scrum.com 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 it ...

forward who played club rugby for Northern. Gibson played international rugby 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 selected to represent 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 their 1899 tour of Australia. He was described 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 ...

, the British Isles captain, as a "capital worker".

Biography

He was born in Gateshead, Durham into a rugby playing family. He was the brother of internationals Charles and Thomas Alexander Gibson.

Rugby career

Gibson first came to note as a rugby player whilst a member of Northern Football Club; and in 1899 was selected to represent England in the Home Nations Championship. Gibson was brought into a fairly inexperienced pack to face

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

at St. Helen's. The game was a one-sided match, with Wales winning by 26-3; afterwards Gibson, along with the other Northern players in the pack, were described as "delinquents" by

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

.Griffiths (1987), 1:12. Gibson was not re-selected for any further games of the tournament. Despite playing only the single game for England, he was offered a place on the British Isles team that was to tour Australia later in 1899. Although not fully representative of the best of British rugby players, the team included a few stand-out stars, including Welsh threequarter Gwyn Nicholls. Gibson played in all four Test matches against the Australian national team, which saw Britain recover after losing the First Test to take the series 3-1. On his return to Britain, Gibson still had no position in the England team, but during the 1899-1900 season, he was invited to join the Barbarians.Starmer-Smith(1977), pg. 222. The Barbarians were an invitational touring team, who by 1900 had a tradition of touring South Wales. In 1900 Gibson was part of the team that beat Gwyn Nicholl's

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

27-12, Gibson scoring a

try Try or TRY may refer to: Music Albums * ''Try!'', an album by the John Mayer Trio * ''Try'' (Bebo Norman album) (2014) Songs * "Try" (Blue Rodeo song) (1987) * "Try" (Colbie Caillat song) (2014) * "Try" (Nelly Furtado song) (2004) * " Try (Ju ...

during the game.Starmer-Smith(1977), pg. 78. Gibson played one final international game when he was selected to play for England in the

1901 Home Nations Championship The 1901 Home Nations Championship was the nineteenth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 5 January and 16 March. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Scotland won all their t ...

. England had already played two games of the series, both losses, and the selectors had responded to each defeat by making several changes to the squad. The lack of consistency failed to produce good results and Gibson's final game, against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, also ended in English defeat.

Footnotes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gibson, George 1878 births 1939 deaths Barbarian F.C. players British & Irish Lions rugby union players from England England international rugby union players English rugby union players Rugby union forwards Rugby union players from Gateshead