Eustace Herbert Guest North (4 November 1868 - 17 March 1925) was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 international rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 forward who played club rugby for Oxford University

Oxford University RFC

The Oxford University Rugby Football Club is the rugby union club of the University of Oxford. The club contests The Varsity Match every year against Cambridge University at Twickenham.-History:...

 and Blackheath. North played international rugby for England

England national rugby union team

The England national rugby union team represents England in rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Wales. They have won this championship on 26 occasions, 12 times winning the Grand Slam, making them the most successful team in...

 and was an original member of invitational team, the Barbarians

Barbarian F.C.

The Barbarian Football Club, usually referred to as the Barbarians and nicknamed the "Baa-Baas", is an invitational rugby union team based in Britain...

.

Rugby career

North first came to note as a rugby player when he represented Blackheath before matriculating to Oxford University. He played in the 1889 encounter between Blackheath and the New Zealand Native football team. Amongst his team-mates that day were many of the original Barbarians, including team founder William Percy Carpmael

William Percy Carpmael

William Percy Carpmael was the founder and first president of the rugby union Barbarian Football Club. Carpmael was born the eldest of eight in Briscobel, Stretham in England.-Education and early career:...

.

Whilst at Oxford University, North represented the University Rugby Club over three seasons from 1889 to 1991. North played in three Varsity Matches

The Varsity Match

The Varsity Match is an annual rugby union fixture played between the universities of Oxford and Cambridge in England. By tradition, the match is held on the second Tuesday of December. In 2005, however, this changed, and the match was on Tuesday 6 December. In 2007, it was held on a Thursday for...

 against Cambridge University

Cambridge University R.U.F.C.

The Cambridge University Rugby Union Football Club, or CURUFC, is the rugby union club of Cambridge University, and plays Oxford University in the annual Varsity Match at Twickenham stadium every December. CURUFC players wear light blue and white hooped jerseys with a red lion crest...

 whilst at Oxford gaining his sporting 'Blues'. His most notable game was in the 1890 encounter, when he and JE Aldridge played some good attacking rugby.

In 1891, North was invited to play with the two most important teams of his career; the Barbarians and England. When Carpmael set about forming an invitational touring team, he turned to his old sporting friends from Blackheath, North was one of several players to accept, several had played alongside him against the New Zealanders in 1889, including Alfred Allport

Alfred Allport

Dr. Alfred Allport was an English rugby union forward who played club rugby for Blackheath and international rugby for England...

, Aubone Surtees

Aubone Surtees

Aubone Alfred Surtees was an English rugby union forward who played international rugby for the British Isles XV that toured South Africa in 1891.-Personal life:...

 and Johnny Hammond

Johnny Hammond (rugby player)

John "Johnny" Hammond was an English rugby union forward who, although not capped for England, was part of three British Lions tours, all to South Africa. He gained three caps during the 1891 tour to South Africa and captained the 1896 tour, winning another two test caps...

.

North gained his first international cap in the opening game of the 1891 Home Nations Championship

1891 Home Nations Championship

The 1891 Home Nations Championship was the ninth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 3 January and 7 March...

, played away against Wales

Wales national rugby union team

The Wales national rugby union team represent Wales in international rugby union tournaments. They compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland, Italy and Scotland. Wales have won the Six Nations and its predecessors 24 times outright, second only to England with...

 at Newport. This was the first of three games that North would play for England, all in the 1891 Championship. His first two matches ended in victories over the Welsh and then Ireland, which set up the Championship deciding match between England and Scotland

Scotland national rugby union team

The Scotland national rugby union team represent Scotland in international rugby union. Rugby union in Scotland is administered by the Scottish Rugby Union. The Scotland rugby union team is currently ranked eighth in the IRB World Rankings as of 19 September 2011...

at the Athletic Ground in Richmond. The English were thoroughly outplayed by Scotland, and were deserved losers. North never represented his country again.