Grahame Morris Budge (7 November 1920 – 14 November 1979) was a
Scotland
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 ...
rugby player. He played four times for Scotland and once for the British Isles against
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
.
Career
He played for various clubs, which included
Dunbar RFC, where the club's historian, from a later generation, would record him as being a local lad who played for
Dunbar RFC both before and after the Second World War before moving on to play for
Edinburgh Wanderers
Edinburgh Wanderers is a former rugby union club, founded in 1868. It was latterly a tenant of the Scottish Rugby Union, playing home fixtures at Murrayfield Stadium for nearly 75 years. In 1997 it merged with Murrayfield RFC to form Murrayfi ...
, later still
Scotland
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 ...
and finally he was called up for the British Lions in the same year as for Scotland, in 1950.
This tour was notable for being the first of the
British and Irish Lions
The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England national rugby union team, England, Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland, Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland, and ...
tours to occur after
The Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilising ...
(the previous tour was in 1938) and the first in which the British and Irish visitors wore red. For around 30 years the standard shirt was a now relatively unfamiliar but then famous navy blue design.
Budge was not unique in being an individual who played for a Canadian club and the Lions. As an aside, in his case at one point he played for the British Columbia Bears, sometimes known as the
BC Bears
The British Columbia Bears (formerly Pacific Tyee) are the senior men's representative rugby team for British Columbia. They were originally founded in 2009 to compete in the Americas Rugby Championship against other representative teams from Cana ...
. Rather, three other players also fulfill this criterion. None of these men played for Wales or Ireland, but two played for Scotland at international level and the other two for England, before they all played for the Lions.
Budge was unique, however, in having played for the Lions and having been born in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
.
Family
His granddaughter,
Alison Christie, played 61 times for Scotland between 1994 and 2004
References
1920 births
1979 deaths
British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Canada
British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Scotland
Canadian expatriate rugby union players
Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Scotland
Canadian people of Scottish descent
Canadian rugby union players
Edinburgh Wanderers players
Expatriate rugby union players in Scotland
People from Westman Region, Manitoba
Scotland international rugby union players
Scottish rugby union players
Rugby union players from Manitoba
Rugby union props
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