John Pullin
England and Lions rugby player who earned respect of Irish fans when he led his side in Dublin during the Troubles
JOHN Pullin, who has died aged 79, had an outstanding career for England and the British and Irish Lions, but he will always be remembered for the opening line of a speech he made as the losing England captain after a Five Nations match against Ireland in Dublin on February 10, 1973: “We may not be very good, but at least we turned up.”
England had gone to Dublin to play at the height of the Troubles while, in the previous season, Scotland and Wales had decided, for security reasons, not to cross the Irish Sea.
Pullin agreed to lead the side after a visit to his home by the RFU president and the chairman of the England selectors.
He concluded that Twickenham was so determined the fixture must be honoured, partly to save the Irish rugby union from bankruptcy if no spectators went through its turnstiles all season, that if he did not go, somebody would take his place.
The crowd at Lansdowne Road gave the side their warmest ever reception. The players were given armed police protection at their hotel.
Pullin was one of England’s greatest hookers. He won 42 caps between 1966 and 1976, 13 of them as captain.
It was a lean time for English rugby, with Wales and France dominant in the Five Nations Championship, which England failed to win for 17 years between 1963 and 1980.
They had just been whitewashed in the Five Nations when Pullin became captain in 1972, and their 18-9 defeat in Dublin the next season was their seventh successive loss.
Their fortunes then improved, with wins over France and Scotland, and the 1973 Championship ended level. England went on, under Pullin’s leadership, to beat South Africa (18-9 in Johannesburg), New Zealand (16-10 in Auckland) and Australia (20-3 at Twickenham) over the next 18 months.
Pullin took part that year in the Barbarians’ most famous victory over the All Blacks, in Cardiff. He was the only Englishman to handle the ball (all the others were Welsh) in the sweeping passing movement through seven pairs of hands, starting under their own posts, that resulted in a try by Gareth Edwards that is regarded as one of the most exciting ever seen.
Pullin was born on November 1, 1941, the second of three sons of William Pullin and his wife Eileen. The family had farmed for several generations in the village of Aust in Gloucestershire, and he was a livestock farmer all his life.
He joined Bristol rugby club in 1964, making 298 appearances before retiring in 1978. He also played 48 times for Gloucestershire, and was invited to play 19 times by
the Barbarians. Pullin’s leadership led a former England colleague to say: “He didn’t go in for pre-Agincourt speeches in the dressing room, but he would mention a strong opponent and tell someone to ‘make sure you can handle him’.”
He won a sole cap for England
in 1966 in a losing match against Wales at Twickenham, failed to be selected in 1967, then played in all four matches in the 1968 Five Nations campaign, after which he was selected for the Lions tour of South Africa. He played in three of the four Tests, with the Lions losing three and drawing one.
On his next Lions tour, to New Zealand in 1971, they beat the All Blacks in a Test series for the first time and went unbeaten throughout the tour. Only three Englishmen played in the Tests, and Pullin was the only one to be selected for all four. His final game for England was in a 30-9 defeat by France in Paris.
Pullin was married to Brenda (née Edwards) for 56 years. She survives him, with their son and two daughters.