Kenneth Grant MacLeod (2 February 1888 – 7 March 1967)[1] was a Scottish international rugby union player,[2] as well as a golfer, soccer player and cricketer.[3] He was capped ten times for Scotland between 1905 and 1908.[4]
He was only seventeen when first capped for Scotland against New Zealand, and was at Fettes College.[2] He then went to Cambridge University and played for their rugby team, winning nine more international caps at the time. He retired at twenty one at the urging of his father, because his two elder brothers had been seriously injured playing rugby.[2]
Perhaps the most remarkable player to appear in the Edwardian Era was K.G. MacLeod... He was both famed for his running and his drop-kicking, scoring a remarkable try in the victory over the 1906 Springboks. It is perhaps a reflection of the way in which the forwards had become subordinate to the backs and reduced to the role of feeders that in the 1907 Calcutta Cup, MacLeod should have tried, and failed with, no less than six long-range drop-goals. How many international centres would have as many chances in a season, let alone a match? MacLeod retired before he had reached his full powers, but it is astonishing what he had achieved already.[2]
