Angus William "Gus" Black (6 May 1925 – 14 February 2018) was a Scottish international

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player, who played for and the

Lions The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the tip of its tail. It is se ...

.Bath, Richard (ed.) (2007) ''The Scotland Rugby Miscellany''. Vision Sports Publishing Ltd. . p. 118

Rugby Union career

Amateur career

Black played for

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the town council under the authority of a royal charter from King James VI in 1582 and offi ...

. He went on to play for

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

and

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

during his

National Service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...

. He played for the Royal Air Force Rugby Union in 1954.

Provincial career

Black was capped for Edinburgh District. He played for the Cities District side in their match against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

in October 1947. He turned out for the

Scotland Possibles Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

side in 1947.

International career

Black made his first international appearance on New Year's Day 1947 while studying

medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

. He also played for Edinburgh University rugby team, and was on the

1950 British Lions tour to New Zealand and Australia The British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand and Australia in 1950 was the first post-war tour made by the Lions; there had not been one since 1938. The 1950 team was the first to be nicknamed "the British Lions", rather than just "British I ...

where he played in two tests, playing in a 9–9 draw in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

and a 0–8 loss in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

Death

Black lived in Lundin Links in

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

. After moving into a care home in the 1990s, Black died in February 2018 and at the time of his death was the oldest living Lions player.

References

1925 births 2018 deaths Scottish rugby union players Scotland international rugby union players British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Scotland Edinburgh University RFC players Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Leicester Tigers players Scotland Possibles players Edinburgh District (rugby union) players Cities District players Royal Air Force rugby union players 20th-century Royal Air Force personnel Rugby union scrum-halves {{Scotland-rugbyunion-bio-1920s-stub