Lancaster – a finishing school for top coaches
Brendan Gallagher continues his series looking at rugby’s great schools
ONLY a handful of schools can claim to have been playing Rugby Union for 150 years or more and among that elite is Lancaster Royal Grammar School whose first recorded game was against Preston Grasshoppers though there were almost certainly games before that as well.
Early opponents included some names that resonate such as Sedbergh, Giggleswick, Liverpool College and Heversham GS although Lancaster, at this stage, were generally considered the whipping boys of the northern circuit and the fixtures were periodically dropped before much more solid foundations were put in place after World War 1.
There was a useful XV in 1927-28 and then in the late 30s Lancaster compiled a strong run of back-to-back seasons that really established the school. Among the key characters during that period was George Lamb who captained the side in 1936-37. Later in life he was better known as Air Vice-Marshall G C (Larry) Lamb, CB, CBE, AFC, FBIM, RAF (retd.)
During his career in the Royal Air Force from 1941 to 1978, Lamb commanded several squadrons and served in Egypt, West Germany and Borneo as well as appointments in the United Kingdom. In rugby terms he was best known as a highly respected international referee who took charge of 14 Tests in total.
Lancaster went unbeaten during the 1938-39 campaign and enjoyed two further unbeaten years during the war which catapulted them into a successful post-war period when they boasted one of the strongest sides in the North. The 1962-63 team lost just one match and boasted three players who appeared in the England Schools trial while a young scrum-half called Brian Ashton also caught the eye.
Ashton, of course, went on to play for England and to coach Bath and Ireland while he was also a member of the England coaching set-up at various periods. He still returns to the school to oversee summer camps and coaching seminars.
Coaching, as we will see, seems to be in the DNA at Lancaster with a number of players and teachers associated with the school becoming notable teachers of the game.
The side of 1968-69 achieved the previously unthinkable and recorded a first ever win (14-3) over Sedbergh and, having waited nearly 100 years for that bus to turn up, they beat their great rivals again the following year in which they went unbeaten although Glenalmond did deprive them of a perfect 100 per cent record by forcing a draw.
An interesting arrival at the school in the early 70s was Lawrie Rimmer, an England back row forward who won five caps mainly with Bath and was a teacher who appreciated both the academic side of school life and the sporting.
Rimmer went on to become the headmaster at Framlingham College for 18 years but back at Lancaster his side in 1971 notched up a record 31-0 win over Sedbergh who were really feeling the full force of Lancaster rugby during this period. Trevor Glover – an outstanding cricketer and rugby player and a double blue at Oxford – captained the XV for three years, an unusual distinction.
Glover was succeeded by another outstanding captain and player in Nick Preston, a willowy, skilful back of deceptive pace who appeared twice in England’s Grand Slam-winning side of 1980. Preston was not the first or last player to be rather shabbily treated by the England selectors, being dropped after this third appearance for England when he scored the winning try in their 17-13 victory over France in Paris. A year later the Richmond man also starred in the Barbarians team that won the Hong Kong Sevens.
Another outstanding coach – Shaun Higgins – took over mid70s and the side he produced in 1976-77 is often cited as one of the strongest in the school’s history, including England 18 group international Mark Nelson and the likes of Steven Gill, Mike Derbyshire and Doug Walker. Both Gill and Walker won Blues at Cambridge. Their crowning achievement at school was defeating the much-vaunted Cowley HS side who were on a run of 25 straight wins.
As a coach, Nelson went on to achieve great success at Sale under DoR Philippe Saint Andre helping to guide them to a magnificent Premiership title in 2006 while Walker enjoyed a notably successful spell back coaching the Lancaster team in the 90s while he also coached the England 18 group side for three seasons.
During the 90s, under Walker, Lancaster started to spread their wings, visiting Canada in 1994 and then embarking on an unbeaten tour of Australian in 1997. That 1994 side, captained by Neil Bennetts enjoyed an unbeaten season and during this era there were England Schools caps for Mathew Dobson, Andrew Miller, George Donoghue and Phil Christophers.
Christophers, who had played his early rugby in Germany where he was born, won three England caps and narrowly missed out on Clive Woodward’s World Cup squad in 2003 despite scoring a try, in their final warm up game against Wales.
The 1999 team was another stand-out with no fewer than eight players earning Lancashire county honours including Andrew Wilksonson, who was to return to the school to enjoy a successful spell as coach. The early noughties were another vintage era with four England 18 group internationals – James Keany, Robin Boot, Oliver Viney and Magnus Lund with Lund and Boot being selected by Walker to tour Australia with the successful England Schools team. Lund became a notable Sevens players and contributed to an England win in Hong Kong while he also went on to win ten England caps during a long career with Sale and Biarritz. Brother Erik also featured in the Lancaster teams and played alongside Magnus at Biarritz while also captaining Norway.
Boot enjoyed spells at London Welsh and Bedford without ever making the big breakthrough that was expected of him. While still playing rugby he was forging a career as a photographer, model and a stand-up comedian with sell-out shows at the Edinburgh fringe. His hair-was almost as long as Marcus Lund’s.
Mick Curran took over from Walker in 2002 and the side landed six Lancashire Cup victories in seven years and a strong run in the Daily Mail Cup in 2004 which came to an end only when they lost in the semi-final to allconquering Colston’s.
Dan Williams, Sean Cox, James Williams and Selorm Kuadey all won England U18 schools honours with lock Cox later to play for Sale and Edinburgh. Kuadey was a blazing talent, with a first-class honours degree in human biology and infectious diseases, who was blessed with extreme pace and had represented England U20 and the full Sevens team when a series of long-term injuries forced him to retire aged 22. Two years later he tragically took his own life. The last decade under first Andy Rice and then Evan Stewart has been a strong one with Stewart also captaining Fylde and getting selected for an England Counties tour of Romania.
In 2012 they won the prestigious Stonyhurst Sevens in style beating King’s Macclesfield 44-5 in the final. That year two old boys played in the Varsity match for Cambridge, Andrew Abraham and Stuart Brown – his third appearance.