Brian Neill (rugby union)
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| Full name | John Brian Neill | ||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 28 July 1937 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Edinburgh, Scotland | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of death | 26 June 2006 (aged 68) | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of death | Edinburgh, Scotland | ||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||
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John Brian Neill (28 July 1937 — 26 June 2006) was a Scottish international rugby union captain.
A native of Edinburgh, Neill was a prop with Edinburgh Accies, for which he made his firsts debut at age 16.[1]
Neill took over as Scotland captain on the eve of their 1964 Five Nations campaign. He had only one prior cap to his name at the time, against England a year earlier, and it was suggested he had been given the position because he could speak French.[2] Under Neill's captaincy, Scotland won three of their four matches, to finish joint Five Nations champions with Wales, while also securing a 0–0 draw against the visiting All Blacks.[3] He remained in charge for the opening match of the 1965 Five Nations, then lost his place due to a foot and didn't feature again for Scotland.[4]