Capped at 20, Nick was one of RGS’ finest
ONE of the many top players produced by RGS High Wycombe was scrum-half Nick Duncombe who, alas, died of meningitis, aged just 21, in February 2003 when on a short mid-season break in Lanzarote.
Duncombe was a blazing young talent, razor sharp, clever and very competitive and had already been capped by Clive Woodward who very much saw him as an England regular for the future, the man to take over when the triumvirate of Matt Dawson, Kyran Bracken and Andy Gomarsall departed the scene.
His career at RGS had been meteoric, skippering the school to the Daily Mail U15 trophy at Twickenham and then taking a leading role in two losing U18 finals against the mighty Colston’s sides of the era.
There was a little revenge in the 1999-2000 season when he spearheaded the RGS challenge at the St Joseph’s Festival where not only did they beat Colston’s in the final but Duncombe was everybody’s vote as player of the tournament.
After being capped by England Schools he broke his neck playing for England U18 against Wales U18 in 2000 and it seemed his career might be over. Undeterred, he recovered quickly and was soon playing for England U19 in the Junior World Cup and representing England on the World Sevens series and at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester in 2002.
After moving from the Saracens Academy to Quins, Duncombe was capped off the bench by Woodward after just 270 minutes of senior XVs rugby two weeks after turning 20. The rugby world seemed his oyster but tragedy struck when he fell ill soon after arriving in Lanzarote.
A commemorative statue is situated at the North End of The Stoop as you enter the stadium while the RPA Young Player of the Year award – currently held by Louis Rees-Zammitt – is named in his honour.