George Ritchie (rugby union, born 1848)
| Full name | George Ritchie | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 16 April 1848 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Edinburgh, Scotland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of death | 31 January 1896 (aged 47) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of death | Kelso, Scotland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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George Ritchie (16 April 1848 - 31 January 1896) was a Scottish international rugby union player who played for Merchistons in Edinburgh.
Born in Edinburgh in 1848, Ritchie played as a Forward.
Ritchie played in the first ever rugby union international match for Scotland against England in 27 March 1871[1] at Raeburn Place, Edinburgh.[2]
In the match, he almost scored the first ever international try. He went over the try-line but a clutch of bodies were on top of him. An Englishman claimed to have control of the ball and the umpire decided it was Scotland's hack off 5 yards from the line. Fortunately for Scotland, they scored a try and goal from the resultant set-piece; the try coming from Angus Buchanan.[3]
It was Ritchie's only international appearance for Scotland and he always maintained that he scored a perfectly good try, throughout the rest of his life.[4] He died in Kelso, Scotland in 1896.