George Boots
Boots in his Newport jersey | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Birth name | John George Boots | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 2 July 1874 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Aberbeeg, Monmouthshire, Wales | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of death | 29 December 1928 (aged 54) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of death | Newport, Monmouthshire | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 10.75 in (1.7971 m) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 13 st 0 lb (83 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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John George Boots (1874–1928) was a Welsh international rugby union forward who played club rugby for Newport and county rugby with Monmouthshire. He won 16 caps for Wales.
Boots was seen as a consistent player with a superb positional sense who would tackle hard and smother the loose ball; his passing skill was strong as was his catching and dribbling. Boots was not a flair player but was a good "spoiler" and could turn defence into attack, giving backs, such as Gwyn Nicholls and Llewellyn Lloyd, a platform to run in tries. Boots had an exceptionally long rugby career, in spite of being on his death bed in 1908 with acute pleurisy.