Maverick talents that England failed to trust

Brendan Gallagher delves into some of rugby’s most enduring images, their story and why they are still so impactful What’s happening here?

It’s the afternoon of Thursday January 13, 1977 and England No.8 Andy Ripley and fly-half Martin Cooper are enjoying themselves immensely as England’s training session before their Calcutta Cup match at Twickenham grinds to a halt in the snow.

Ripley in particular looks in his element – winter sports was the great love of his spectacular sporting life – and frankly he couldn’t be happier. You just know for certain that a snowball fight is about to break out. What’s the story behind this picture?

England in the 1970s veered from world class – memorable Test wins in South Africa and New Zealand in 1972 and 1973 – to absolutely hopeless Five Nations whitewashes in 1972 and 1976. The one constant, however, was their suspicion of unusual and individualistic talents such as Ripley and Cooper. They didn’t fit a template.

Both could be world beaters on their day but selectors were more concerned with their occasional lapses than their manifest strengths. Ripley didn’t know it when this picture was taken but he had already played his last game for England. It was the beginning of the end of a career that saw him win 24 England caps but should have garnered so much more.

The appointment of Roger Uttley as captain and No.8 sealed his fate. Ripley was to be on the bench for the first three games of the 1977 Five Nations, without getting on, and then he was banished from the England set-up altogether. What a waste and in passing has there ever been a forward better suited to making an impact off the bench although, of course, back then replacements were just for injured players. What happened next?

England, and in particular Cooper operating at fly-half, enjoyed one of their very good days, dismissing Scotland 26-6, outscoring their opponents four tries to nil. Next up Cooper had another fine game scoring the winning try in their 4-3 win over Ireland at Lansdowne Road. Then they lost 4-3 to probably the greatest French side in history and suddenly Cooper was looking down the barrel. England lost their final game 14-9 to Wales in Cardiff and that was it, his international career also came to an abrupt halt. That’s how England rolled back then. Why is this picture iconic?

Andy Ripley was an iconic player, a charismatic individual, and this slightly quirky image is my favourite picture of him. No matter what life threw at him, Rippers accentuated the positive and disregarded the negative. He was too busy having a good time to harbour any regrets or indulge in jealousy. He was a fierce competitor but there was no ego, which is a rare combination. He made the very best of everything whether that be a freezing afternoon acting as tackle fodder in a blizzard or bravely battling terminal cancer, the challenge he faced in his latter years.

I must declare an interest, Rippers lived in the next village and we became mates. I was a young journalist with the East

Grinstead Courier and he was our local celebrity, and frankly a godsend. He opened local sports centres and summer fetes, judged the flower shows and best cake competitions in dusty village halls, crowned our carnival queens and organised various local fun runs and charity swims.

He even became a member of Dormansland Parish Council and chaired the Church Restoration Fund sub-committee. Reporting on such meetings suddenly became good fun, not a chore, with the debate continuing down the Royal Oak or Plough afterwards.

At one stage, with one of his daughter’s showing great promise in the sport, he became involved in the British Modern Pentathlon Association and his natural genius for bringing people together quickly kicked in as he became their chairman. He dusted off his old Lions blazer, unstitched the prestigious Lions badge and replaced it with the GB Modern Pentathlon badge.

“No matter what life threw at him, Rippers accentuated the positive”