Test cauldron was relaxation for undercover cop Crowley
Brendan Gallagher continues his enthralling series by looking at the best rugby-playing police officers
1. Dan Crowley (Queensland and Australia)
A remarkable character who combined an elite rugby career with his role as an undercover policeman in Queensland specialising in dangerous drug operations. All this was only possible with the collusion of the Australian media who complied with requests from Queensland and Australia that they never use a photograph of him or interview the rawboned prop. His occupation, if listed at all, was normally put down as security or risk mitigation.
Nothing could stop his match day appearance on the TV but happily he was usually buried deep in a scrum or maul, wore an overlarge headband and – it would appear – very few drug barons and their heavies in Queensland were Rugby Union fans.
Crowley enjoyed a significant career and was a member of two World Cupwinning squads (1991 and 1999) and played in the 1989 Lions series and his extraordinary double life is chronicled in his autobiography. In Undercover Prop he details some of the drugs raids and shoot outs and indeed at one time he continued coordinating on an undercover assignment back in Australia while preparing for a Test in New Zealand.
“Bob Dwyer once asked me why I seemed so cool and calm before games and didn’t suffer from nerves,” explains Crowley. “I replied that for a day job I often barged through a door not knowing if there was somebody on the other side armed with a shotgun. Rugby was a relaxation by comparison.”
2. John Gallagher (Old Askeans, London Irish, Wellington, New Zealand)
One of those fascinating career paths from the amateur days. Gallagher was a London Irish kid who played for the St Josephs’ Academy in Blackheath and the Old Askeans before a season with London Irish U19. He was accepted into the Metropolitan Police but negotiated a delayed entry so he could travel to New Zealand for a ‘year out’ with the intention of playing a season of club rugby to improve his game.
On arriving in Wellington, Gallagher’s career took off in a most unexpected and spectacular way with the Marist club and involved a switch from centre to full-back where his running ability came into play. Wellington soon picked up on his talent and before long he was making a big impact at Provincial level and, feeling he might have a future in New Zealand, he joined the Wellington Police.
After a poor season at Test level in 1986, New Zealand looked to young talent for the 1987 World Cup and their eyes fell on the English Irishman playing for Wellington. Gallagher was selected for the All Blacks squad, made an impressive debut in the opening game against Italy and then scored four tries in the next match against Fiji.
Gallagher was to enjoy a short and phenomenally successful career with the All Blacks, never tasting defeat in the 41 games he played which included 18 Tests. The only game from which he failed to emerge as a winner was a drawn Test with Australia in Brisbane in 1988.
Off the back of a stellar 1989 he was voted International Player of the
Year but by then he was on the verge of joining Leeds RL, a move that didn’t work out with a serious injury from a spear tackle possibly denting his performance. At the dawn of professionalism in Rugby Union he joined Blackheath and was selected at centre for Ireland A. He retired soon after.
3. Paul Ackford (Rosslyn Park, Harlequins, Cambridge University, England and Lions)
By the time he retired in 1992 Ackford was arguably the top lock in world rugby but he was a slow burn as a Test player, not making his Test debut until the age of 30 against Australia in 1988. At the same time as his rugby progressed, he was pursuing a high-flying police career which had seen him promoted to inspector at Clapham, a particularly busy London police station. Over the course of three years his rugby career took off and then, when it came to an end, he decided to leave the police and pursue a career in journalism. Ackford was a more than useful club lock with Rosslyn Park, who he captained at one stage, and then Harlequins but his big breakthrough came when his club coach Dick Best picked him to play for London Counties against the touring Australians.
Ackford – lean, mobile and fit for a lock – immediately looked at home at this higher level. In an already big strong pack there was room for an athletic lineout specialist like Ackford and there was also a sense that at the age of 30 and with the life experience that comes from already being a police inspector, he was ready to take full advantage of the opportunity that had presented itself.
Geoff Cooke called him into the England team and for the next three years not only was Ackford a regular, he was a key man, forming an all-police second row partnership with the rugged Wade Dooley. England steadily improved and Ackford contributed massively to their 1990 Grand Slam and progression to the 1991 World Cup final. He also played in all three Tests for the Lions on their successful tour of Australia in 1989.
The 1991 World Cup final was meant to be his last game but he was tempted back for one last hurrah in May 1992 when Best, giving him a week’s notice, begged him to play for Quins against Bath in the Pilkington Cup final at Twickenham. Despite his lack of match fitness Ackford produced a storming performance although he couldn’t prevent Bath winning 15-12 in extra time. And that was that. The next time he appeared at a rugby ground was as the Sunday Telegraph rugby correspondent sitting in the stands.
4. Dean Richards (Leicester, England and Lions)
Famously a motorway patrolman with the Leicester constabulary for much of his playing career when he was one of a strong contingent of coppers who bolstered the England pack. A phenomenal No.8 in his own way, Richards was not blessed with great pace but was very physical, knew his way around the pitch and possessed clever handling skills.
He was a mainstay of the various successful Tigers teams and those skills saw him win 48 England caps, play in three World Cups (1987, 1991 and 1995) and start all six Tests on two Lions tours, of Australia in 1989 and New Zealand in 1993. He retired from from the police when rugby turned professional and embarked on a successful and sometimes controversial coaching career with Leicester, Quins and, most recently, Newcastle.
Despite being a policeman – or ex policeman – Richards has a habit of getting himself into hot water with the authorities. In 1988 he was banned by England for a game for his part in the trashing of the Calcutta Cup which he kicked down Princes Street with John Jeffrey while, of course, in 2009 he masterminded the entire Bloodgate scandal against Leinster in the Heineken Cup which saw him banned from any involvement in the sport for three years.
5. Wade Dooley (Preston Grasshoppers, England and Lions)
A proud member of the Lancashire Constabulary who, being 6ft 8ins tall and stationed in Blackpool, immediately got him dubbed the Blackpool Tower by the Press. In contrast to his day job which was spent upholding the law and keeping the peace, Dooley was a rough, tough operator on the rugby pitch who often crossed the thin blue line and would invariably be at the centre of any fracas. He famously got into hot water for breaking Phil Davies’ jaw in an ugly match against Wales in Cardiff in 1987 and at that point it seemed his Test career might melt away.
Dooley, more than almost any player, though responded to the arrival of Geoff Cooke the following year, got himself very fit and became a mainstay of the England pack that paved the way to two Grand Slams (1991 and 1992) and that World Cup final appearance.
He also packed down alongside Ackford in two of the Lions Tests in 1989. He was picked for the 1993 Lions but had to return home following the death of his father and was not allowed to re-join the party which resulted in the call-up of a young Martin Johnson. In retirement Dooley reverted to upholding the law and in a classic case of poacher turned gamekeeper became a citing officer.
6. Arthur Morgan Rees (London Welsh, Met Police, Cambridge University and Wales)
Distinguished policeman who, after rising through the ranks at the Met, became the chief constable of Den
bighshire and later Stafford and Stoke on Trent Force. Interrupting that career was World War 2 where he served as a fighter pilot, but in rugby circles Rees is best known as an outstanding flanker who starred for Cambridge University and, alongside his university friend Wilf Wooler, played a prominent part in Wales’ victory over New Zealand in 1935. Received the Queen’s Police Medal in 1970. 7. Martin Bayfield (Northampton, Bedford, England and Lions)
Giant lock who learned his rugby at Bedford School before serving as a PC in the Met between 1985 and 1989. He then transferred to Bedfordshire Police and while playing for Northampton his career started to take off. After making his debut on England’s summer tour in 1991, Bayfield missed out on selection for the 1991 World Cup squad but returned with a bang in 1992, starring in that Grand Slam-winning team while he played in all three lions Tests on the 1993 tour of New Zealand. Was a strong presence in the pack at the 1995 World Cup as well but dropped out of England favour the following year and retired from rugby in 1998 after injuring his neck in training.
After leaving the police his career branched off in various directions. One of the best after-dinner speakers on the circuit, he also found himself working in the Harry Potter films as Robbie Coltrane’s body double for the character Hagrid. That beget a considerable ongoing TV career. For four years he co-presented Crime Watch with Kirsty Young while he is now well established as an anchor-man for BTSport’s match day rugby coverage. 8. Romain Poite (French referee)
The former Toulouse plain clothes detective is one of the world’s most experienced referees having taking charge of 69 Tests to date with power to add. Known for his strict officiating of the scrum where he does not allow any of the dark arts. One of the few referees ever to yellow card Richie McCaw, sending the New Zealand skipper for ten minutes in the cooler at Eden Park in 2014 when the All Blacks were playing Australia. 9. Nigel Horton (Moseley, Toulouse, England, Lions)
Yet another of England’s formidable policeman/locks, Horton was an officer in Birmingham and, like one or two of his police colleagues, had a reputation for being a no-holds barred customer when playing and a little volatile away from the pitch. In an eleven-year England career, he won 20 caps and reckons he was dropped three or four times for non-rugby playing matters, ie speaking his mind and doing his own thing. At his best he was a formidably strong and physical customer as befits an England waterpolo international and it was no surprise that he also flourished during a spell playing in France. After retiring, among other things, he became scrum machine consultant and toured around South Africa in 1997 and New Zealand in 2005 setting up and maintaining the scrum machines for the Lions. 10. John Fiddler (Gloucester and England)
A Gloucester Constabulary PC and one of the first policeman locks who have made such a contribution to English rugby. A Gloucester legend who was feared around the club scene, Fiddler didn’t get much joy out of the England selectors but did enjoy two outstanding Tests along Bill Beaumont in Argentina in 1981. It was three years later, with his knees beginning to creak, before he got picked again, this time on the ill-fated 1984 tour of South Africa. He was forced to retire from the police and rugby the following year. Son Rob also played for England at lock. 11. Nigel Heslop (Orrell, Liverpool St Helens, England)
Merseyside police officer who was a neat, efficient wing and particularly strong in defence. Was ever present in the 1991 Grand Slam and featured prominently in the 1991 World Cup quarter-final when he was felled by Eric Champ in retaliation for what the French flanker perceived as some rough treatment of Serge Blanco. Missed the semi-final and final through that injury and never regained his England place although he appeared as a late replacement in the final game of the 1992 Grand Slam campaign. Tasted defeat just once in his ten England games. 12. Mark Linnett (Moseley and England)
Solid prop and Birmingham copper who scored a try on his one and only England appearance against Fiji in 1989. Has gone into rugby folklore, however, as the England player who nicked Olympic champion Merlene Ottey’s running leotard from the washing line at Club la Santa in Lanzarote on an England winter training camp and wore it to the squad’s New Year’s Eve party. The leotard was later returned to the line although whether Ottey was ever able to wear it again is not recorded. 13. Bleddyn Bowen (South Wales Police, Swansea and Wales)
Classy centre, who could also play fly-half, Bowen was a serving policeman throughout his Wales career (1983-89) and the star turn of a very strong South Wales Police side that could boast four or five internationals. Made his debut in a famous defeat against Romania in 1983 but survived that to establish himself in the team. Appeared at the 1987 World Cup and captained Wales to a Triple Crown the following year. Career ended prematurely in 1989 when he suffered a second ACL knee injury. 14. Frank Oliver (Southland, Manawatua, New Zealand)
Invercargill policeman whose nickname in rugby circles was the ‘Filth’, on account partly of his job and also his hard man reputation. A tough customer who starred in the 1978 Grand Slam team, he and son Anton both captained the All Blacks. Andy Haden always cops the criticism for his dive in the 1978 game against Wales but watch the video and the canny Oliver also lurches alarmingly to ground for no apparent reason. 15. Dorian West (Nuneaton, Leicester and England)
A member of the Leicestershire Constabulary Armed Response Unit in his playing years. A dogged combative hooker who contested the starting spot at Leicester with Richard Cockerill and made it into the 2003 England World Cup squad. Since leaving the police has concentrated on coaching with Northampton and now Sale. 16. Ronnie Flannagan (Ulster)
Fiesty Ulster hooker was a tidy enough provincial player but his police career was stellar, finishing with a spell as the chief constable of the RUC and HM chief inspector of constabulary. After leaving British policing, Flanagan took up the post of strategic adviser to the Abu Dhabi police force before succeeding Lord Condon as chairman of the ICC’s anti corruption and security unit. 17. Simone Favaro (Treviso, Glasgow Warriors and Italy)
Terrific openside flanker, highly rated at Glasgow Warriors and Italy’s player of the tournament at RWC2015 who surprised the rugby world by announcing his retirement from Test rugby the following year at the age of 27 to train as a policeman. Still plays for Fiamme Oro Rugby – the Italian police team – but can’t be tempted back to the international fold. 18. Amy Garnett (Saracens and England)
Met Police officer who became the first England women’s international to win 100 caps. A tough hooker, she appeared in three World Cup finals – 2002, 2006, 2010 – and each time was on the losing side against New Zealand. Now involved coaching Exeter Women. 19. JJ McCoy (Bangor, Ulster and Ireland)
Rugged Ireland lock who won 16 caps between 1985-89 helping them to the 1985 Championship and Triple Crown and playing in the 1987 World Cup. Throughout this time he was a serving constable in the RUC and was always escorted by Garda Siochana special branch officers when playing and training in Dublin. 20. Grant Champion (Devon & Cornwall Police, Truro and Cornwall)
A lifelong policeman and rock solid centre, Champion played a big role in Cornwall’s famous 29-20 extra time Country Championship win over Yorkshire in 1991. The reliable Champion kicked three penalties and two conversions as Cornwall recovered from a 16-3 deficit.