John Hodgson (rugby union)

John Hodgson
Full name	John McDonald Hodgson
Date of birth	13 February 1909
Place of birth	Gosforth, England
Date of death	21 April 1970 (aged 61)
School	Hillbrow School; Rugby School
Notable relative(s)	Tom Berry (brother-in-law); Dan Kriel (great-grandson); Jesse Kriel (great-grandson)
Rugby union career
Position(s)
Position(s)	Wing-forward
International career
Years	Team
1930	British Lions
1932–36	England

John McDonald Hodgson (13 February 1909 – 21 April 1970) was an English international rugby union player.^[1]

Biography

Hodgson was born in Gosforth, Newcastle, and picked up rugby union during his years at Hillbrow School in Rugby, Warwickshire. After completing his secondary education at Rugby School, Hodgson played for Northern on his return to Gosforth and ascended to the club captaincy by age 19.^[2]

A back-rower, Hodgson toured New Zealand and Australia with the British Lions in 1930. He featured in 15 of the tour fixtures, including two of the Test matches against the All Blacks, in Dunedin and Auckland. On the journey home, Hodgson became so ill that he was said to have been close to death and as a result didn't play rugby for the rest of the year.^[3] He was capped seven times for England between 1932 and 1936, primarily as a wing-forward.^[4] He switched clubs from Northern to Leicester during his period with England.^[2]

Hodgson married a South African who he met while on a business trip and their great-grandson, Jesse Kriel, played for the Springboks. His Leicester teammate Tom Berry, also an England player, married John's sister Margaret.^[5]