Gloucester Rugby is saddened to hear of the passing of former Gloucester Rugby player and England international forward George Hastings who was 95 years of age.

George William Hastings was born in Dursley on 7 November 1924. He was educated at Cheltenham Grammar School. His first clubs were Old Patesians and Cheltenham.

On 24 April 1948 he played at prop for Cheltenham against Gloucester. Just four days later he made his Gloucester debut against Cardiff, playing in the second row.

He was indeed, a versatile and speedy forward, although remembered as a prop, he could play in the second or back row. His speed around the field meant that he scored a lot of tries for a prop, totalling 30 for Gloucester. He captained the club in the 1954-55 season.

George won the first of his England caps in 1955 against Wales, and played in all four internationals, scoring a try against Ireland. In 1957 England won the Grand Slam, and again George appeared in all four tests. In 1958 once again he appeared throughout, with the addition of a game against Australia.

Hastings played 34 times for Gloucestershire, including a Championship Final game against Warwickshire in 1959. He was the County captain for the 1955-56 season. In addition, he also played for the Western Counties against the All Blacks in 1953, and an amazing 20 times for the Barbarians.

George played his final game for Gloucester on 14 November 1959 at Moseley. He turned out to play because Gloucester were short of six players who were playing for the County that day. The depleted team pulled off a fine win 18-3 win, with George kicking three conversions.

He played 260 times for Gloucester, was capped 13 times by England, and appeared 34 times for Gloucestershire.

Thank you to the Gloucester Rugby Heritage team for their words.

Our thoughts are with George’s family at this difficult time.

Former Gloucester Rugby player, George Hastings, passes away aged 95

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