Birth name | George Breckenridge | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Date of birth | 5 September 1964 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Scotland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 183 cm (6 ft 0 in)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 80 kg (12 st 8 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
School | High School of Glasgow | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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George Breckenridge (born 5 September 1964)[2] is a former Scottish rugby union player and now coach. He played for the amateur Glasgow District side before playing for the professional Glasgow side, now Glasgow Warriors.
A former student of the High School of Glasgow, Breckenridge played for Glasgow High Kelvinside[3][4] for 8 years.[5] When they merged with Glasgow Academicals RFC to form Glasgow Hawks he played another two years with the Hawks.[5]
He became a mainstay in the Glasgow District side.[5] He played in Glasgow District's famous 1989-90 side which won the Scottish Inter-District Championship outright and remained unbeaten the entire season, beating the touring Fiji national rugby union team into the bargain. He played in all their matches that season.[6] Glasgow Warriors later honoured the 20th anniversary of that season when they played Munster in 2009 in the Magners League opener.[7]
When the district side turned professional in 1996, Breckenridge also turned out for the fledgling Glasgow Warriors side. He was Glasgow's top kicker in European Competition for the season 1996-97 scoring 18 points; 3 penalties a-piece in games against Sale Sharks[8] and Clermont[9] (then as Montferrand).
He also played rugby in France and New Zealand.[5]
He was capped by Scotland 'A'[10] and Scotland 'B'.[5] It was felt by some that he was overlooked for a senior Scotland cap as Glasgow District - even as Scottish champions - were viewed as somewhat unfashionable by the SRU.[11]
He coached Ayr RFC to 2004[10] and - along with Shade Munro - coached an amateur Glasgow District side in 2001.[12] He also coached the Scotland national under-18 rugby union team[13] and Murrayfield Wanderers RFC in 2005.[14]
He became a Backs Coach at Heriots and in 2006-7 was Assistant Coach to the Scotland Club XV side.[5][15]
He also coached West of Scotland[6] and now coaches Lenzie RFC[16]
He is a keen supporter of the District system and would like to see it again expanded beyond Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh Rugby. He coached a Co-Optimists side containing Glasgow Warriors stars Carlin Isles and Folau Niua in a charity match against Caledonia Reds in 2011.[17] He stated: "Having played for Glasgow, I know what a great honour it is to pull on that jersey."[13]
He also works for the sports clothing company Canterbury in Glasgow.[18][19]