Popular former Ireland prop Halpin dies at 55
Gary Halpin, the former Ireland, Harlequins, Wanderers and London Irish prop, has died suddenly at the age of 55. There was a common theme running through all the tributes paid to one of Ireland’s most popular players of the early Nineties and that was of a man with a profound sense of goodness and humour about him.
Halpin won just 11 caps but he had a presence that went before him, some of it stemming from Ireland’s pool match against New Zealand at the 1995 World Cup in South Africa. The All Blacks had got under the skin of the Irish front row so when Halpin went thundering over the line for his only Test try, he could not help but turn to New Zealand hooker and captain, Sean Fitzpatrick, and give him a double middlefinger salute. The tale has stood much retelling, albeit Halpin did later attempt to excuse his moment of excess when saying: “As a teacher it was rather a stupid thing to do.”
Halpin was a talented dual-international sportsman, having also represented Ireland in the hammer at the 1987 World Athletics Championship. Teaching was his profession and while playing for Quins and London Irish, Halpin taught at St George’s in Weybridge as well as the Oratory in Reading. He was head of boarding at Cistercian College in Roscrea, which posted the shock news of his death and said he would be “remembered for his great sense of humour and for being above all an extremely humble man”.
Former Ireland hooker and current Harlequins assistant coach, Jerry Flannery, said Halpin was “one of my favourite players when I was a kid. You need to be a bit mental to give [the All Blacks] the finger after scoring a try. Ballsy.”