Lions and Ireland hero Duggan dies of suspected heart attack at the age of 67
One of the most charismatic figures of Irish rugby, former Leinster, Blackrock and Kilkenny No8 Willie Duggan, has passed away at the age of 67 from a suspected heart attack at his home in Dunmore, County Kilkenny.
Duggan, a four-time Lion during the 1977 tour to New Zealand, won 41 caps in an international career spanning 1975 to 1984. There are so many myths attached to Duggan, that of the drinker, the smoker and – as indicated by his sending-off along with Geoff Wheel in 1977 at the Arms Park in Cardiff to become the first Irishman ever to be dismissed – the brawler, that it would be easy to overlook what an outstanding footballer he was.
Duggan was in the mould of a modern back-row forward, understated athleticism underpinning a robust approach. Even on that occasion of notoriety, Duggan punching Wales lock Allan Martin in retaliation for Wheel’s skulduggery, he had been the stand-out player up to the incident.
For years, Duggan was the central cog in a formidable Irish backrow trio with John O’driscoll and Fergus Slattery invariably alongside.
Duggan stories abound – from the time during Ireland’s run to the Five Nations title in 1982 when he emerged from the tunnel at Twickenham smoking a cigarette, which he requested referee Allan Hosie to “hold for me”, to his reported response when he was sent off, Duggan quipping that he had not been sent off, but that referee Norman Samson had asked if he would “mind leaving the field”.