| Birth name | Gerald Venables Kyrke | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 7 September 1882 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Chard, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of death | 8 March 1932 (aged 49) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of death | Clifton, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Gerald Venables Kyrke (7 September 1882 – 8 March 1932)[1] was an English international rugby union forward who played club rugby for Marlborough Nomads and was selected for the 1908 Anglo-Welsh tour of New Zealand and Australia.
Kyrke played much of his rugby with Marlborough Nomads, one of the earliest English rugby clubs, based in London. When Kyrke was offered a place on a tour with invitational team, the Barbarians in 1903 he was already a Nomads player, and was still with the club at the age of 26 when he was invited to tour with the 1908 Anglo-Welsh team.[2] The Anglo-Welsh was an early incarnation of the British Lions and the 1908 team was assembled to tour New Zealand and Australia.
Kyrke played twelve games for the Anglo-Welsh team, including one Test Match. His first game for the team was on 25 May 1908, facing Wairarapa on the opening game of the tour.[3] He played in the First Test against New Zealand, but after a heavy defeat he was not chosen for the remaining two Tests of the tour. Despite this he continued to play against club and regional teams and scoring a try in the encounter with a joint West Coast/Buller team in July. Although Kyrke toured with the Anglo-Welsh, he was never chosen to represent England.