William Alfred Henry "Bill" Cotty (24 February 1875 – 6 September 1928) was a South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

n international rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 player. Born in Kimberley

Kimberley, Northern Cape

Kimberley is a city in South Africa, and the capital of the Northern Cape. It is located near the confluence of the Vaal and Orange Rivers. The town has considerable historical significance due its diamond mining past and siege during the Second Boer War...

, he attented Kimberley Boys' High School

Kimberley Boys' High School

Kimberley Boys' High School is a high school located on the corner of Dalham Road and Memorial Road, Kimberley, Northern Cape, South Africa. It was founded in 1887 and has close affiliation with Kimberley Girls' High School and Kimberley Junior School....

 before playing provincial rugby for Griqualand West (now known as Wildeklawer Griquas

Wildeklawer Griquas

The GWK Griquas are a South African rugby union team that participates in the annual Currie Cup tournament. Their home ground is Hoffe Park Stadium, known for sponsorship reasons as GWK Park in Kimberley, and they draw their players from Northern Cape Province. They were previously known as...

). He made his only Test

Test match (rugby union)

Test match in rugby union is a match recognised as being a full international match by at least one of the participating teams' governing bodies. It is an unofficial but widely used term in the sport....

 appearance for South Africa

South Africa national rugby union team

The South African national rugby union team are 2009 British and Irish Lions Series winners. They are currently ranked as the fourth best team in the IRB World Rankings and were named 2008 World Team of the Year at the prestigious Laureus World Sports Awards.Although South Africa was instrumental...

 during Great Britain's 1896 tour

1896 British Lions tour to South Africa

1896 British Isles tour to South Africa was a rugby union tour undertaken by the British Isles, one of the first British and Irish Lions tours. The team toured South Africa for the second time in 1896. Between July 11 and September 5, they played 21 games, including four tests against South Africa...

. He played as a scrum-half in the 3rd Test of the series, a 9–3 loss in Kimberley. Cotty died in 1928, in Kimberley, at the age of 53.