Karl Mullen

Rugby player
Karl Mullen
Mullen in New Zealand in 1950
Birth nameKarl Daniel Mullen
Date of birth(1926-11-26)26 November 1926
Date of death26 April 2009(2009-04-26) (aged 82)
UniversityBelvedere College
Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland
Occupation(s)Gynaecologist
Rugby union career
Position(s) Hooker
Amateur team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
Old Belvedere[1] ()
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
1947–1952
1950		 Ireland
British Lions		 25
4

Dr Karl Daniel Mullen (26 November 1926 – 27 April 2009[1]) was an Irish rugby union player and consultant gynaecologist who captained the Irish rugby team and captained the British Lions on their 1950 tour to Australia and New Zealand.

Mullen was born in Courtown Harbour, County Wexford and educated at Belvedere College and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. He played as hooker, winning 25 caps[2] for Ireland from 1947 to 1952. He captained the Irish team to their first Grand Slam in the 1948 Five Nations Championship and was one of eight players from that team who lived to see the country's next Grand Slam in 2009.[1]

He was also selected to captain the 1950 Lions Tour to Australia and New Zealand, during which the Lions lost the Test series against the All Blacks 3-0, with one game drawn, but won the test series against Australia 2-0.[3] He played four tests for the Lions on that tour; two against New Zealand and two against Australia. He missed the third and fourth tests against New Zealand through injury.

References

  1. ^ a b c Mairs, Gavin (27 April 2009). "Former British and Irish Lions captain Karl Mullen has died, aged 82". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 27 April 2009.
  2. ^ McKittrick, David (8 February 2007). "Theatre of Green: Gaelic games end a century of separatism". The Independent. Archived from the original on 1 April 2007. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  3. ^ 1950 – New Zealand and Australia. lionsrugby.com
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Leslie B. Osborne
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Ireland national rugby union team captains
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  • Feb 1875: G.H. Stack
  • Dec 1875: R.J. Bell
  • Feb 1877: R. Galbraith
  • Feb 1877: W.H. Wilson
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  • Feb 1884: J.A. McDonald
  • Mar 1884: D.F. Moore
  • Feb 1885: W.G. Rutherford
  • Mar 1885: A.J. Forrest
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  • Feb 1886: J.P. Ross
  • 1887: R.G. Warren
  • Feb–Mar 1888: H.J. Neill
  • Dec 1888–90: R.G. Warren
  • Feb–Mar 1891: Dolway Walkington
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  • 1892: Victor Le Fanu
  • 1893: Sam Lee
  • 1894: Edmund Forrest
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  • Mar 1895: Charles Rooke
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  • 1896: Sam Lee
  • 1897: Edmund Forrest
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  • Feb 1898: G.G. Allen
  • Mar 1898: W. Gardiner
  • 1899–1900: Louis Magee
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Notes
Note 1: Robert Seddon died on tour after a boating accident. Andrew Stoddart became captain for the remainder of the tour.

Note 2: Matthew Mullineux decided that after losing the first test that he should withdraw from further test matches, handing on field captaincy to Frank Stout, but remained tour captain.
Note 3: David Bedell-Sivright was injured during the first test. Teddy Morgan took over captaincy on the field but Bedell-Sivright remained tour captain.
Note 4: The team that John Raphael captained was not selected by the four Home Nations governing body, but had been organised by Oxford University and billed as the English Rugby Union team. However, it was considered the Combined British team by Argentina because it also included three Scots.
Note 5: Jack Jones was captain for the first test, but Tommy Smyth remained the tour captain.
Note 6: Bleddyn Williams captained in the third and fourth tests v New Zealand and the first test v Australia.
Note 7: Cliff Morgan captained in the third test.
Note 8: David Watkins captained in the second and foruth tests v New Zealand.
Note 9: Michael Owen captained the Lions in the first tour game, the test vs. Argentina in Cardiff. Brian O'Driscoll was injured at the beginning of the first test against New Zealand. Gareth Thomas replaced him as tour captain.
Note 10: Sam Warburton was injured in the second test. Alun Wyn Jones replaced him as captain for the third test.
Note 11: Tour captain Sam Warburton was named on the bench for the first test. Peter O'Mahony was the captain on the field.

Note 12: Tour captain Alun Wyn Jones left the squad for 17 days due to an injury in the first warm-up match, and was replaced by Conor Murray temporarily.