page_title: George Aitken (rugby union)
section_title: All Blacks
hierarchical_section_title: George Aitken (rugby union) / All Blacks
caption_attribution_description: English: Team photograph of the New Zealand rugby union team before playing South Africa in 1921. Unknown location but most likely Dunedin. From left to right George Aitken, Harry (Ginger) E Nicolls, unidentified, unidentified, unidentified. Jack Steel, J Moffitt, J Richardson, J Donald, (Son) White, unidentified, unidentified, Mark Nicholls, (Moke) Bellis, Kingston.
context_page_description: George Gothard Aitken was a rugby union footballer who represented New Zealand – known as the All Blacks – and then Scotland. He was born in Westport, New Zealand, and was selected to play provincially for Buller at the age of 16. 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. After only two Test matches for the All Blacks, both as captain, he was dropped from the team. In 1922 Aitken was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship and travelled to England to study at the University of Oxford. He played for the university's rugby club, and from there he was selected for Scotland. 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.
context_section_description: The 1921 season was Aitken's most significant while in New Zealand. He was selected for the North Island side in the annual Inter-Island match, which was won by the North 28–13. For the second season he was selected for the New Zealand University team that played both Wellington and New South Wales. South Africa were touring New Zealand for the first time that year, and their itinerary included a three-Test series against the All Blacks. Aitken was selected at centre for the first Test match, and was surprisingly selected as captain, despite not having played for his country before, and never leading his province. 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". The Test was at Carisbrook, Dunedin, in front of 25,000 spectators, and the game started well for the South Africans, who scored the first try, and led 5–0 at half-time. The New Zealanders responded with three tries in the second half to win 13–5.
  The second Test was in Auckland; the All Black selectors made only three changes, and Aitken was again selected as captain and at centre. 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. Aitken's form in the match was poor, however he had been ill with the flu leading up to the game. Consequently, for the third and deciding Test Aitken was dropped, and replaced as captain by Teddy Roberts, and at centre by Mark Nicholls. Aitken's dropping as a captain and a player was viewed as harsh, and he never played for New Zealand again, thereby becoming one of the few players to captain the All Blacks in every match they played.
caption: The 1921 All Blacks before playing South Africa – probably the first Test match in Dunedin. Aitken is standing on the far left.
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