William Cross (10 September 1850 - 16 October 1890)
Scrum.com was a

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 ...

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 ...

player. He is notable for scoring the first conversion in international rugby in 1871 in the match between and , after Angus Buchanan scored a pushover try, and he also 's second ever try later in the match.

Rugby Union career

Amateur career

Cross played for

Glasgow Academicals The Glasgow Academical Football Club is the third oldest rugby football club in Scotland. The club was also a founder member of the Scottish Football Union (the future SRU) in 1873. History Glasgow Hawks In 1997 the decision was made to ...

, and Merchistonians.Massie, p5

Provincial career

He played in the world's first provincial district match in 1872; the 'inter-city' - a match between Glasgow District and Edinburgh District. Cross played for Glasgow as a half-back.

International career

Cross was one of the first international half-backs, along with J.W. Arthur and their English counterparts. Scotland rugbyteam 1871

Cross represented

in 1871 in the first international match. Of the Scottish score, one of the English players wrote: "after a maul, just outside the English goal-line the umpires ordered the ball to be put down in the scrummage five yards outside the line. It was taken was out accordingly, but, instead of putting it down, the Scottish forwards drove the entire scrummage into goal, and then grounded the ball and claimed a try. This, though illegal according to English laws, was allowed by the umpires and the goal was kicked by Cross." At the time, conversions and goals, not tries produced a score, so in fact Cross, not Buchanan was the first to put points on the board.Bath, pp 4,5 In fact, this was the only score in the match. Cross rounded off the game with a second try, ninety seconds before the final whistle, when with their forwards running riot, J.W. Arthur knocked on from a line-out and the ball looped over the English defenders, with the quick thinking Cross picking it up for Scotland's second try. He played one more international in 1872.Bath, p136

Referee career

After his international playing career was over, Cross became Scotland's second international rugby referee when he officiated an early encounter between Scotland and England. This was his only international game as a referee. He refereed the 1882 inter-city match between Glasgow District and Edinburgh District.

Administrative career

Cross took up a role within 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 ...

and he continued promoting Scottish rugby, becoming President of the Scottish Rugby Union for the 1882-83 season.

Family

His brother

Malcolm Cross Malcolm Cross was a 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, borde ...

gained nine caps for Scotland.

References

Sources

* Bath, Richard (ed.) ''The Scotland Rugby Miscellany'' (Vision Sports Publishing Ltd, 2007 ) * Massie, Allan ''A Portrait of Scottish Rugby'' (Edinburgh: Polygon, 1985 ) {{DEFAULTSORT:Cross, William 1850 births 1890 deaths Merchistonian FC players Glasgow District (rugby union) players History of rugby union in Scotland Presidents of the Scottish Rugby Union Rugby union players from Bridgend Scotland international rugby union players Scottish Districts referees Scottish rugby union players Scottish rugby union referees