Shock at death of rugby star Egerton, 59
FORMER Bath and England number eight Dave Egerton has died at the age of 59. Egerton had contracted Covid-19 and went into hospital on Saturday.
As a player on the international stage, Egerton won seven England caps and represented the British and Irish Lions against France in 1989.
But it was on the club scene where Egerton really left a legacy which will long stick in the mind of fans of the Blue, Black and White as the charismatic, mobile and prolific number eight, who averaged something like a try every three games in his club career as he made 163 appearances between September 1985 and January 1995, was a key part of a glorious silverware-winning era.
In a brilliant interview as part of Bath Rugby’s Tales from the Legends series to mark the club’s 150th Anniversary celebration, Egerton spoke unassumingly about being part of that glorious era.
He said: “Rugby is a team sport, a collective sport. There is no one person who could have done it on their own.
“I think that every single player who played during that era was a special player, just to be able to get in the team in the first place. The old adage was, it’s not good enough to just be in the team, you’ve got to make a difference when you’re in there.”
Egerton certainly did make a difference as his time at The Rec coincided with a period of incredible sustained success under Jack Rowell, with Bath winning five league titles and five domestic cups.
With Egerton at the back of the scrum, Bath won the newly created Courage League Division One in 1988/89, 1990/91, 1991/92, 1992/93, and 1993/94.
Bath Rugby paid tribute to their former forward on Twitter saying: “We are all deeply shocked and incredibly sad to learn that club legend Dave Egerton has passed away.
“A wonderful gentleman and talented player, taken from us far too soon.
“Our thoughts and love go out to his family and friends. #bathfamily”
Egerton, from Pinner in NorthWest London, had most recently been working for BBC Radio Bristol as a commentator.
Paying tribute on Twitter, they declared: “Dave, who won 7 caps for
England, was a valued member of our commentary team at BBC Radio Bristol.
“We are all thinking of his family and friends at this extremely sad time.”
We are all deeply shocked ... a wonderful gentleman and talented player, taken from us far too soon BATH RUGBY