Gavin Blackburn is a former Scotland U21 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 for

Glasgow Warriors The Glasgow Warriors are a professional rugby union side from Scotland. The team plays in the United Rugby Championship league and in the European Professional Club Rugby tournaments. In the 2014–15 season they won the Pro12 title and beca ...

, who played at the

Tighthead Prop In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16� ...

position. Blackburn played for

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century History of Germany, German woodcut depicting Saracens ''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to ...

. He started there as an apprentice. Blackburn played for London Scottish till 1999, when he was signed by

Glasgow Hawks Glasgow Hawks is an amateur rugby union team in Glasgow, Scotland. They were Premiership Division One champions for three consecutive seasons from 2003–04 to 2005–06. History In Paris on 27 August 1995 a meeting of the International Rugby ...

. He was then called up to

. He played in all but one of Glasgow's pre-season friendlies of the 1999 - 2000 season; including the home match against

Ulster Rugby Ulster Rugby is one of the four professional provincial rugby union teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the Irish regional pool of the United Rugby Championship and in the European Rugby Champions Cup, each of which they have won ...

and making the trip to Canada to play the

Ontario Rugby Union The Ontario Rugby Union (ORU) also known as 'Rugby Ontario'' is the provincial governing body for the sport of rugby union in the Canadian province of Ontario and a Provincial Union of Rugby Canada. Rugby Ontario governs various levels of rugby (U ...

and Uruguay A. The only exception was the final match of the Canadian tour, the Canadian Tri-Continental Tournament final against

Edinburgh Rugby Edinburgh Rugby (formerly Edinburgh Reivers, Edinburgh Gunners) is one of the two professional rugby union teams from Scotland. The club competes in the United Rugby Championship, along with the Glasgow Warriors, its oldest rival. Edinburgh play ...

, where Blackburn was an unused substitute. He returned to Glasgow after the successful Canadian tour but his time at the Hawks was short. In November 1999 he was moved on to Glasgow Southern. This move to a lower ranked club effectively ended Blackburn's Warriors career and he did not play a further game for the professional provincial side. Hawks spokesman Hugh Barrow said: "Gavin hasn't been able to establish a regular place since arriving from London Scottish. He can't be blamed for wanting to seek first team action." In 2001, he moved to Stirling County. An achilles injury curtailed his career. He later went on to coach

Biggar RFC Biggar RFC is a rugby union club based in Biggar, South Lanarkshire, Scotland. Founded in 1975, the team plays its home games at Hartree Mill. The men's side currently competes in , the women's side currently compete in . History The club was f ...

from 2014. "Biggar is a huge club and one I remember playing against," he said. "It was always a hard game and the support was tremendous. They struggled last season but my job will be to create a culture where everybody enjoys rugby and ultimately starts winning again," said the 35-year-old former Dunfermline coach and SRU development officer. "We will look to bring players in but they have to be the right type of player, on and off the pitch." However Blackburn announced he would quit his coaching role in February 2016 due to family commitments and work pressures.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blackburn, Gavin Living people Scottish rugby union players Glasgow Warriors players Glasgow Hawks players London Scottish F.C. players Glasgow Southern players Stirling County RFC players Saracens F.C. players Year of birth missing (living people) People educated at St Ninian's High School, Giffnock Rugby union props