George Carmichael "Tot" Robinson (1876–1940) was a rugby union international who represented

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 ...

from 1897 to 1901.Tot Robinson Profile on scrum.com
/ref> After retiring from playing rugby he became a sports administrator and rugby selector, eventually serving as president for the

Rugby Football Union The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the Sports governing body, national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby ...

Personal life

Robinson was born on 1876 in

Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...

. He was educate at

Dame Allan's School, Newcastle Dame Allan's Schools is a collection of independent day schools in Fenham, in the west end of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It comprises a coeducational junior school, single-sex senior schools and a coeducational sixth form. Founded in 1705 as ...

. He was a Justice of the Peace from 1932 to 1940.

Rugby union career

Robison first came to note as a rugby player when he represented club side

Gosforth Rugby Football Club Gosforth Rugby Football Club is a rugby union team, currently playing in Durham/Northumberland 2 following the club's relegation from Durham/Northumberland 1 at the end of the 2017-18 season. The club was originally established in 1877, however ...

but by 1897 he was representing

Percy Park RFC Percy Park Rugby Football Club is an English rugby union team based in North Shields, Tyne & Wear. The club runs three senior sides and a full set of junior teams. The first XV currently plays in North 1 East. About There are five pitches avai ...

. He was the first player to be directly capped for England from Percy Park, and the first international from Northumberland, but was followed by several more in the next six years. Robinson made his international debut on 6 February 1897 at

Lansdowne Road Lansdowne Road Stadium ( ga, Bóthar Lansdún, ) was a stadium in Dublin owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) that was primarily used for rugby union and association football matches. The stadium was demolished in 2007 to make way for ...

in the

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

match. Of the eight matches he played for his national side he was on the winning side on 2 occasions. Despite this low winning return, Robinson had an incredibly high

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 ...

scoring rate with eight tries over his eight caps. He played his final match for England on 9 March 1901 at Rectory Field, Blackheath in the

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 ...

match. As well as his two Northern clubs, Robinson also turned out for London's

Blackheath F.C. Blackheath Football Club is a rugby union club based in Well Hall, Eltham in south-east London. The club was founded in Blackheath in 1858, and is the fourth-oldest rugby club in continuous existence in the world, after Dublin University Fo ...

and was also invited to tour with 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 les ...

. He played three times for the Barbarians between 1896 and 1897 scoring tries in two of his matches. Robinson was also selected to play at county level and turned out for Northumberland. Aftering retiring from playing the sport, he continued his connection with rugby by becoming a member of the Northumberland region of the

(RFU), the governing body for rugby union in England. From 1921 to 1929 he was a selector of the English team and in 1939 he was given the honour of serving for the traditional year's term as president of the RFU.

International try record

Source for below
espnscrum.com match record for Tot Robinson

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Tot 1876 births 1940 deaths English rugby union players England international rugby union players Rugby union wings Barbarian F.C. players Blackheath F.C. players Rugby union officials Rugby union players from Gateshead