Neil McPherson OBE, (26 September 1892 – 12 November 1957) was a Welsh

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 represented

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 ...

and the British Lions. McPherson played club rugby for Newport and captained the team in the 1921/22 season. McPherson gained his first cap for Scotland in 1920 against Wales 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 a ...

alongside teammate Dr E Fahmy, who also played his club rugby in Wales. Scotland won 9–5, and prevented Wales from winning the Grand Slam. After accepting a gold watch as part of Newport's invincible 1922/23 season, the

Scottish Rugby Union The Scottish Rugby Union (SRU; gd, Aonadh Rugbaidh na h-Alba) is the governing body of rugby union in Scotland. Styled as Scottish Rugby, it is the second oldest Rugby Union, having been founded in 1873. The SRU oversees the national league s ...

suspended McPherson for what they saw as an act of professionalism; but he was later re-instated. McPherson's last game for Scotland was against Ireland, but was chosen to join the British Lions 1924 tour of South Africa, when he played in all four tests against the Springboks. International matches played
''Scotland'' * 1920, 1921, 1923 * 1921 * 1920, 1923 * 1920 ''British Lions'' * 1924, 1924, 1924, 1924

References

ESPN Scrum – Neil McPherson
1892 births 1957 deaths Rugby union players from Cardiff Welsh people of Scottish descent Scottish rugby union players Welsh rugby union players Newport RFC players British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Wales British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Scotland Officers of the Order of the British Empire Scotland international rugby union players Rugby union flankers Rugby union props {{Scotland-rugbyunion-bio-stub