George Aitken (rugby union)

After moving to Wellington, Aitken played for the province from 1917, and from there was selected for the All Blacks side that faced South Africa when they toured New Zealand in 1921.

He first represented the country in 1924, and in 1925 appeared in all of their Five Nations matches; Scotland won all four of those games, and in doing so achieved their first ever Grand Slam.

[8] He was described by rugby writer Winston McCarthy as "a beautiful mover of the ball who had the number one attribute of a good centre, to run his wings into position".

[9] The Test was at Carisbrook, Dunedin, in front of 25,000 spectators,[8] and the game started well for the South Africans, who scored the first try, and led 5–0 at half-time.

[8] A crowd of 40,000 watched the two sides contest a close game; the scores were tied 5–5 until a late drop-goal from Springbok Gerhard Morkel (worth four points at the time), gave the South Africans a 9–5 victory.

[14] Consequently, for the third and deciding Test Aitken was dropped, and replaced as captain by Teddy Roberts, and at centre by Mark Nicholls.

[17] After moving to England, Aitken played for Oxford Rugby Football Club, and was awarded a Blue for the University.

The Scottish side included an all-Oxford University three-quarters; the other three were George MacPherson, Ian Smith, and Johnnie Wallace.

Fifteen players standing in one line while wearing rugby jerseys. The player on the far left is holding a rugby ball.
The 1921 All Blacks before playing South Africa – probably the first Test match in Dunedin. Aitken is standing on the far left.