Cameron Michael Henderson Gibson was born in Belfast on 3 February 1942 and educated at Campbell College. At Cambridge University he won three Blues between 1963 and 1965. He won the first of his 69 caps for Ireland in 1964 while still at Cambridge. Initially a fly-half of world-class he later played at centre for both Ireland and the British Isles but also won four caps for Ireland on the wing. He captained his country five times and scored 115 points. On five British Isles' tours between 1966 and 1977 he made 69 appearances, including 12 tests, and scored 119 points, including 18 tries and five drop goals. Mike Gibson played club rugby for North of Ireland and worked as a lawyer in Belfast. His nine games for the Barbarians included the fixtures against South Africa in 1970, New Zealand in 1973, and Australia in 1976. He was also invited to play against New Zealand in 1964 and Australia in 1967 but on both occasions was unavailable. In 1975 he captained the Barbarians against Leicester.