{{short description|English rugby union footballer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2021}} {{Infobox rugby biography | name = Gerald Kyrke | image = | caption = | birth_name = Gerald Venables Kyrke | birth_date = {{birth date|1882|9|7|df=y}} | birth_place = Chard, England | death_date = {{Death date and age|1932|3|8|1882|9|7|df=yes}} | death_place = Clifton, England | height = | weight = | position = Forward | amatyears1 = | amatteam1 = Marlborough Nomads | amatteam2 = Barbarian F.C. | ru_amclubcaps = | ru_amclubpoints = | ru_amupdate = | repteam1 = Anglo Welsh | repyears1 = 1908 | repcaps1 = 1 | reppoints1 = 0 | ru_ntupdate = }}
'''Gerald Venables Kyrke''' (7 September 1882 – 8 March 1932)<ref>[http://www.espnscrum.com/scrum/rugby/player/1968.html Gerald Kyrke Rugby career] Scrum.com</ref> 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.
==Rugby career== 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.<ref>{{cite book |last=Starmer-Smith |first=Nigel |title=The Barbarians |year=1977 |publisher=Macdonald & Jane's Publishers|page=225 |isbn=0-86007-552-4}}</ref> 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.<ref>[http://www.lionsrugby.com/6012.php?player=74528&includeref=dynamic Gerald Kyrke Lions profile] lionsrugby.com</ref> 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.
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{British and Irish Lions 1908}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kyrke, Gerald}} Category:1882 births Category:1932 deaths Category:People from Chard, Somerset Category:English rugby union players Category:Rugby union forwards Category:British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Wales Category:Barbarian F.C. players Category:Rugby union players from Somerset