{{Short description|British Isles international rugby union player}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2022}} {{Infobox rugby biography | name = Cuth Mullins | birth_name = Reginald Cuthbert Mullins | birth_date = 28 June 1873 | death_date = {{death date and age|1938|6|15|1873|6|28|df=y}} | birth_place = Grahamstown, Cape Colony | death_place = | height = | weight = | ru_currentteam = | ru_currentposition = | position = Forward | ru_clubupdate = | clubs1 = {{nowrap|Oxford University RFC}} | clubs2 = Guy's Hospital | years1 = | apps1 = | points1 = | repyears1 = 1896 | repteam1 = British Isles | repcaps1 = 2 | reppoints1 = 0 | ru_ntupdate = | relatives = Charles Mullins (brother) | school = St. Andrew's College | university = Keble College, Oxford }}
'''Reginald Cuthbert Mullins''' (28 June 1873 – 15 June 1938<ref>[http://www.espnscrum.com/scrum/rugby/player/1213.html Cuthbert Mullins player profile] Scrum.com</ref>) was a South African rugby union forward and medical doctor. Mullins played club rugby for Oxford University and played international rugby for the British Isles XV in their 1896 tour of South Africa.
==Personal history== Mullins was born in Grahamstown, Cape Colony, in 1873 to the Revd Canon Robert John Mullins and was brother to Charles Mullins and Robert George Mullins. Cuth was educated at St. Andrew's College before moving to Britain to study medicine at Keble College, Oxford.<ref name="obit">{{cite web |url=http://196.33.159.102/SAMA/1938%2520VOL%2520XII%2520Jan-Dec/Articles/08%2520August/1.9%2520OBITUARY%2520DR.%2520R.C.%2520Mullins.pdf |title=Dr C Mullins |date=13 August 1938 |access-date=27 August 2009}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}</ref> After leaving Keble he took his conjoint from Guy's Hospital and held the standard house appointments there. In 1899 he returned to South Africa, enlisting as a civil surgeon at the Yeomanry Hospital, Pretoria, during the Second Boer War.<ref name="obit"/> He returned to Britain in 1900 to complete his studies.
After Mullins qualified as a doctor he returned to South Africa, working as a medical officer on the Rand, before settling in Grahamstown.<ref name="obit"/> In Grahamstown he set up in practice with a Dr. Drury, and at the same time took the role of medical officer St. Andrews College, his old school.<ref name="obit"/> By 1905, Mullins had become president of the Grahamstown branch of the British Medical Association.<ref>[http://196.33.159.102/1905%20-%201909%20Transvaal%20Medical%20Council/1905/03%20October/1.6%20MEDICAL%20AND%20PHARMACY%20COUNCIL,%20O.R.C.pdf Cape of Good Hope (Eastern Province Branch) British Medical Association]{{dead link|date=August 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} The Transvaal Medical Journal, 1 October 1905</ref>
In January 1905, Mullins married Winifred Maasdorp, eldest daughter of Christian Maasdorp.<ref name="post"/>
With the outbreak of the First World War, Mullins again served his country, and was made a temporary Captain of the Royal Army Medical Corps in 1917.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=30286|supp=y|page=9543|date=1917-08-05}}</ref> In 1918 he was mentioned in despatches.<ref name="obit"/>
Mullins retired from medicine in 1937 and moved to his son's farm, 'Faber's Kraal' in the Highlands area outside Grahamstown. He died at the farm in 1938.<ref name="post">{{cite news |title=Marriages |issue=41380|page=1 |work=The Morning Post, London |date=1905-01-11}}</ref>
==Rugby career== Mullins' father, Canon R. J. Mullins, is said to have introduced rugby to blacks in Grahamstown, where he was the principal of an educational institution associated with St. Andrew's College. Rugby historians claim that St. Andrews have been playing rugby since 1878.<ref name=Story>{{cite book |last1=Odendaal |first1=André |title=The Story of an African Game |publisher=David Phillip |year=2003 |location=Cape Town |isbn=9780864866387 |access-date=27 December 2011 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xnguK8xusNkC}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rugby365.com/article/38515-st-andrew-s-college |title=School Profiles – St Andrew's College |access-date=29 December 2011 |date=8 May 2005 |publisher=Rugby 365.com |archive-date=31 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131231001941/http://www.rugby365.com/article/38515-st-andrew-s-college |url-status=dead }}</ref>
Cuth Mullins came to note as a rugby player when he was selected to play for Oxford University. He won one sporting 'Blue', playing in the Varsity Match of the 1894/95 season. Playing in the Oxford team alongside Mullins was Walter Julius Carey who would journey with the same British Isles team as Mullins in 1896. The game ended in a draw, though Oxford were seen as fortunate not to lose.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Marshall |first1=Howard |last2=Jordon |first2=J. P. |title=Oxford v Cambridge, The Story of the University Rugby Match |year=1951 |publisher=Clerke & Cockeran |location=London |pages=86–87 }}</ref>
In 1896 Mullins was invited to return to South Africa, as part of the British Isles touring team. Mullins played in 13 matches of a 21-game tour, including two of the Test games against a South African national team;<ref>[http://www.lionsrugby.com/6012.php?player=74334&includeref=dynamic Cuthbert Mullins Lions profile] lionsrugby.com</ref> placing him in the strange situation of representing Britain against his home nation.{{efn|Though Mullins' case is certainly unusual, one can find similar instances elsewhere during this period. For example, Birdie Partridge played for South Africa against Britain in the 10–10 draw at the Wanderers Ground in Johannesburg in 1903, although he was Welsh. Partridge was later called up for a trail to represent England. Similarly, John Griffin, later vice-president of the Eastern Province Rugby Union, was asked to play for Wales – who had arrived one player short at Raeburn Place for their first ever test against Scotland in 1883 – although he was English (b. Southampton, 1859) and a student at the University of Edinburgh.<ref>[http://www.sareferees.co.za/features/history/2814164.htm]{{dead link|date=August 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>}} Mullins was selected for the First Test, played at Port Elizabeth, and the Third Test at Kimberley, the tourists won both games. As well as his old Cambridge teammate Carey, Mullins was joined in the British team by Robert Johnston, who fought alongside Mullins' brother Charles, being awarded the Victory Cross for his involvement in the same action at Elandslaagte. When Mullins returned to Britain at the end of the tour he continued playing rugby, and after leaving Oxford for Guy's Hospital he joined the Hospital team. Mullins was given the captaincy of Guy's Hospital FC for two seasons from 1898 to 1900,<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20090409023845/http://www.guysrugby.com/vp-honours.asp#guyscap Guy's Hospital honours board]}} guysrugby.com</ref> and in 1899 he led the team to the United Hospitals Cup.<ref name="obit"/>
==Notes== {{Notelist}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Further reading== * {{cite book |last=Griffiths |first=John |title=The Phoenix Book of International Rugby Records |year=1987 |publisher=Phoenix House |location=London |isbn=0-460-07003-7}}
{{British and Irish Lions 1896}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mullins, Cuth}} Category:1873 births Category:1938 deaths Category:Rugby union players from Makhanda, Eastern Cape Category:South African rugby union players Category:British & Irish Lions rugby union players from South Africa Category:Oxford University RFC players Category:Alumni of St. Andrew's College, Grahamstown Category:Alumni of Keble College, Oxford Category:British Army personnel of the Second Boer War Category:British Army personnel of World War I Category:Royal Army Medical Corps officers Category:Rugby union forwards Category:Guy's Hospital RFC players