Mark Coxon Morrison (2 April 1877 – 10 May 1945)[1] was a Scottish international rugby union footballer who captained both Scotland and the British and Irish Lions.

Mark Coxon Morrison
Birth nameMark Coxon Morrison
Date of birth(1877-04-02)2 April 1877
Place of birthDalmeny, Scotland
Date of death10 May 1945(1945-05-10) (aged 68)
Place of deathLongniddry, Scotland
SchoolRoyal High School, Edinburgh
Occupation(s)Farmer
Rugby union career
Position(s) Forward
Amateur team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
Royal HSFP ()
Leicester Tigers ()
Provincial / State sides
Years Team Apps (Points)
Edinburgh District ()
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
1896-1904 Scotland 23 (0)
1903 British and Irish Lions 3 (0)
55th President of the Scottish Rugby Union
In office
1934–1935
Preceded byJohn MacGill
Succeeded byWilliam Patrick Scott

Rugby Union career

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Amateur career

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Morrison played for Royal HSFP.[2]

He played two games for Leicester, one in 1898 and one in 1902.[3]

Provincial career

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Morrison played for Edinburgh District and played in the Inter-City matches against Glasgow District.[2]

International career

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He played for Scotland twenty three times between 1896 and 1904, and captained the team fifteen times, a record which stood until the era of Arthur Smith, sixty years later.[4]

He first played for Scotland against Wales in 1896, while a teenager playing for Royal HSFP.[4] He continued to play for Scotland until 1904, and captained them a total of 15 times.[4] With Scotland he won three Home Nations Championship with them in 1901, 1903 and 1904. Two of those Championship victories were Triple Crown wins (1901 and 1903).[4]

He was chosen to captain the British and Irish Lions on the 1903 British Lions tour to South Africa. The Lions lost the Test series 1–0 with two drawn. In 2002 he was inducted into the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame.

Jimmy Sinclair, the Springbok forward described Morrison as "a real roughouse of a man, and a great leader."[4]

Administrative career

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He was the 55th President of the Scottish Rugby Union, in post from 1934 to 1935.[5]

Outside of rugby

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Mark Coxon Morrison was born to John Morrison (1839-1923) and Jane Begg (1846-1911) in Dalmeny, West Lothian. He was a farmer by trade.[4]

References

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  1. ^ Mark Morrison rugby profile Scrum.com
  2. ^ a b "The Glasgow Herald - Google News Archive Search".
  3. ^ Farmer, Stuart; Hands, David. Tigers - Official history of Leicester Football Club. The Rugby DevelopmentFoundation. p. 435. ISBN 978-0-9930213-0-5.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Bath, p150
  5. ^ "Scottish Rugby Record 2018/19" (PDF). Scottish Rugby.
Sources
  1. Bath, Richard (ed.) The Complete Book of Rugby (Seven Oaks Ltd, 1997 ISBN 1-86200-013-1)
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