John Guy Giberne Birkett (27 December 1884 – 16 October 1967) 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 ...

player who played for

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between 1906 and 1912, and also captained the side on more than one occasion. He also has the distinction of scoring the first ever try at

Twickenham Stadium Twickenham Stadium () in Twickenham, south-west London, England, is a rugby union stadium owned by the Rugby Football Union (RFU), English rugby union governing body, which has its headquarters there. The England national rugby union team plays ...

,Steve Lewis, ''One Among Equals'', pages 22-24, 2008 (Vertical Editions:London) echoing the feat of his father who in 1871, in the first ever international rugby match scored England's first ever try.

Early life

John Guy Giberne Birkett was born in Richmond, Surrey on 27 December 1884. He was the son of Lizette Crunden and Reg Birkett. His father had played for England as an

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

er as well as playing in England's first international rugby match in 1871. He had an older brother, Gerald (born 1883), and his uncle was another rugby international, Louis Birkett. John attended

Haileybury and Imperial Service College Haileybury is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) near Hertford in England. It is a member of the Rugby Group and, though originally a major boys' public school in the Victorian era, it is now co-educational, enrol ...

Rugby career

Birkett initially regarded himself as a half-back. After attending the trials for Harlequins in 1905 on

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he was selected for the team. At the time, the Harlequins talisman, Adrian Stoop, was beginning to implement a change in the way in which back play was structured and which itself would become the template for how

backlines are organised today. Stoop wanted to see the ball moved quickly across the three-quarters and out to the wings, for a quicker style of play. The ball would leave the forwards via a position Stoop termed the scrum-half and then outward to the wings. Stoop saw in Birkett the ideal build and skills needed for a centre in this new format, and this became Birkett's position for the rest of his career. Birkett came into the England side in 1906 after England had suffered a seven match losing run. Playing Scotland at

Inverleith Inverleith (Scottish Gaelic: ''Inbhir Lìte'') is an inner suburb in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland, on the fringes of the central region of the city. Its neighbours include Trinity to the north and the New Town to the south, with Canonmills ...

, Birkett took up his position at centre and with Stoop also in the side as half-back the first glimmers of the new back play were seen at international level. In this match England overcame Scotland, putting an end to their losing streak and seeing tries scored on both wings. Five days later in Paris, Birkett was involved in the first England-France match, again a win for England. Birkett became a regular in the England side and in 1908 captained the side to a defeat against Wales in Bristol. He lost the captaincy but kept his place and in the

1910 Events January * January 13 – The first public radio broadcast takes place; live performances of the operas '' Cavalleria rusticana'' and ''Pagliacci'' are sent out over the airwaves, from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York C ...

and 1911 Five Nations Championships he was captain on four consecutive occasions. The 1910 championship was also one in which England became the first Five Nations champions, and Birkett scored twice in the match against Scotland.Player profile at scrum.com
/ref> During his international career he played 21 times for England, and at the time of his final match in Paris this was England's record cap holder. He was also the record try scorer with ten. Ironically, he never captained his club-side. However, he never lost his place in the Harlequins side and was part of the generation that witnessed the move to the new

. He played in the inaugural match on 2 October 1909, at what is now the home of English rugby. In this match he had the distinction of scoring the first try at the new stadium, echoing his father's distinction of having scored England's first ever try in 1871.

Career and later life

In World War One he was a captain in the Royal Field Artillery and was mentioned in dispatches 18 times. He was also decorated with the Order of the Crown of Italy, 5th Class (Knight). In 1915 he married Elsie Allen in Chertsey. They had a son, John Brian who was born on 2 October 1916 and who would later become a

brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. I ...

and serve in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

.Kelly's handbook to the titled, landed and official classes, Volume 95, page 272 (Kelly's Directories, 1969) John Birkett died on 16 October 1967, which was registered in Cuckfield.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Birkett, John 1884 births 1967 deaths Birkett family British Army personnel of World War I England international rugby union players English rugby union players Harlequin F.C. players People educated at Haileybury and Imperial Service College Royal Field Artillery officers Rugby union centres Rugby union players from Richmond, London