Ray French devoted adult life to Cowley
Brendan Gallagher continues his series looking at rugby’s great schools
IF St Brendan’s College Bristol are the fallen rugby giants of the West County, Cowley High School from St Helen’s must surely be their equivalent in the North West.
From the mid-30s right up until the early 90s Cowley – first a grammar school and then a high school – were a powerhouse side in Fifteens and Sevens, a conveyor belt of serious talent for Rugby Union and Rugby League. Then came various educational changes until it was restyled Cowley International College where, alas, rugby scarcely exists these days.
A colossus of the game cut down by forces outside of their control, as was the case with St Brendan’s, although the memories happily live on.
The school became synonymous with probably its most famous old boy – Ray French – who learned his Rugby Union there while also playing Rugby League from dawn to dusk in the back streets of St Helens. In no time at all he won senior England caps at both Union and League while he also represented Great Britain at the latter.
Meanwhile he returned to Cowley to teach geography and Latin and was soon coaching the First XV, a job he undertook with extraordinary energy and relish for 33 years. Just to complete a
busy dual life, while teaching his beloved Cowley the finer arts of Rugby Union, he succeeded Eddie Waring as the voice of Rugby League when he became BBC’s lead commentator in the sport. Nobody did more to normalise relations, during a difficult era between Union and League than French, below.
The school was founded in 1882 and for the first 30 years played football before a new headmaster, Mr Varnish, introduced rugby to good effect. Within seven years old boys of the school had formed the St Helens Rugby Union club who became quite a force before they eventually emerged with Liverpool and became Liverpool St Helens.
Two early Cowley notables were cousins Jack Heaton and Dickie Guest who both became England backs of some note and shared the distinction of playing Test rugby either side of World
War 2. Both joined Waterloo and lined up in six internationals together for England.
Heaton played in nine Tests with a remarkable 13 years spanning his debut in 1936 and his final appearance in 1947. In that last international season he captained England to victories over Scotland and France at the age of 39.
Guest, six years younger, was a major talent who, but for the war, would have won considerably more than his 13 caps on the wing. He was also an England selector between 1963 and 1966 before emigrating to Australia.
Flanker Alan ‘Ned’ Ashcroft was another terrific Cowley player who starred just at the end of the war, a hardhitting flanker with good hands and pace to burn. England were late in fully recognising his talent, but between 1956 and 1959 he was virtually ever-present, winning 16 caps in a period of some excellence for England. Indeed he was only on the losing side twice. He also played 17 times for the Lions on their demanding 1959 tour of New Zealand, including two Tests, before concentrating on his career as an art college tutor at Liverpool University where, reportedly, a young John Lennon was one of his students.
During the late 60s, a strong period for the school team, John Horton was a clever, darting fly-half who caused mayhem among defences. He always seemed destined
for the top although again the England selectors were a little slow on the uptake and suspicious of his extravagant skillset. Coach Mike Davies, though, trusted him and with Horton at ten England recorded their first Grand Slam in 23 years when they won the Five Nations in 1980.
Horton was an exceptional Sevens player and, with their propensity to produce clever jinking backs and smallish ballplaying forwards, Sevens was always a natural outlet for Cowley. As well as regularly clearing up at local tournaments such as Caldy, Birkenhead Park, Waterloo, Fylde and the Northern Sevens at Manchester GS they tasted success nationally.
They were regular participants at the Llanelli Sevens – almost as big an event as Rosslyn Park at one stage – and in 1970 they took the senior and junior titles on the same day while through the 70s they targeted the Rosslyn Park Open tournament, reaching three finals.
Dave Carfoot, a future England U23 cap and Lancashire stalwart, led them to the semi-finals when they lost to Neath GS in 1972 while in 1976 Mick Burke – an England Schools centre at Union but a GB Rugby League international at prop – also guided the side to the last four when they lost to St Benedict’s Ealing.
Cowley’s victorious year was 1973 when Ian Ball, a gifted, creative back destined for England U23 honours before he turned professional with Barrow, was a star turn along with future Sale and Lancashire wing Steve Tickle, another who ended up at Barrow RL.
In the final they defeated old rivals Reigate GS 15-4 in in a classic Sevens shoot-out that pretty much hinged on one play with Reigate’s England Schools lock Neil Mantell seemingly poised to crash over by the posts for a try when the diminutive Ball hit him with the tackle of his career. Cowley seized on the loose ball and raced up field to score under the posts themselves a dramatic 12-point shift in the game.