Chris Winn
Rugby player whose winning try in 1954 secured England’s first victory over Wales since the war
CHRIS WINN, who has died aged 90, won eight caps as a left-wing three-quarter for England between 1952 and 1954 and also played first-class cricket for Oxford University and Sussex.
There was so much international rugby talent available to Oxford in the immediate post-war years that Winn had difficulty breaking into the university side. Eight members of the Oxford side in 1950 were internationals. Lewis Cannell, Clive Van Ryneveld, Brian Boobbyer, Murray Hofmeyr and Ian Botting were all selected as England backs, even though all but Cannell were from the Dominions – three from South Africa and one, Botting, who had toured South Africa with the All Blacks.
They were an unusually serious group of men, influenced by their experiences in the war. Botting took Holy Orders and Boobbyer and Hofmeyrs became prominent members of Moral Rearmament. Van Ryneveld, who went on to play rugby for England and Test cricket for South Africa, became a politician.
Winn finally broke into the Oxford side in 1952 and went on to play for England that year, scoring a try on his debut against the visiting Springboks. He formed a powerful partnership with Ted Woodward on the other wing, scoring three tries, the most dramatic being a last-minute winner in 1954 to secure England’s first victory over Wales since the war.
He had less difficulty breaking into the university cricket team, winning blues in four successive years. He scored a fifty in Oxford’s notable victory over the touring New Zealanders in 1949. While still at Oxford he played as an amateur for Sussex.
He was a left-handed middle-order batsman and occasional opener who played 59 first-class matches, scoring 2,449 runs, including two centuries, one of 146 not out against the Free Foresters. Despite a short back-lift he managed to strike the ball with considerable power. He was a magnificent outfielder, a safe pair of hands, and sometimes took the gloves behind the wicket. He also played for DR Jardine’s XI, for the Free Foresters and the MCC.
Christopher Elliott Winn was born in Beckenham on November 13 1926 and educated at King’s College School, Wimbledon, where he excelled at sport before going up to Exeter College, Oxford.
In 1952, the year he won his first cap for England at rugby, he met the athlete Valerie Ball, the 800 yards world record-holder, at a cocktail party given by Geoff Duke, the champion motor cyclist. They married the following year. After Oxford he joined the paint division of ICI.
Winn played his club rugby for Rosslyn Park, becoming President in 1981, and also played for Surrey and the Barbarians. He sat on a number of committees at Twickenham. An all-round athlete, he continued playing Real Tennis into his eighties.
He is survived by his wife, a son and two daughters.
Chris Winn, born November 13 1926, died August 27 2017