OBITUARIES
Brendan Gallgher looks back over 2020 and chronicles the outstanding figures lost to rugby
Brendan Gallagher remembers the greats who passed away in 2020
Christophe Dominici (Toulon, Stade de France and France):
Died November 24, aged 48 Brilliant, mercurial France wing who took his own life, throwing himself off an abandoned building at Saint Cloud Park in a suburb of Paris.
Domenici had been open in the past about bouts of depression following his abuse as a child and the death of a sister and had also been stressed in recent months by the collapse of a proposed takeover bid of once-great Beziers in which he had acted as the middle man between the club and potential investors in the middle East.
A small but tigerish and occasionally inspired wing, he scored 25 tries in 65 Tests and took a prominent role in three World Cup campaigns. Early in his international career it was he who lit the touchpaper in France’s extraordinary semi-final win over New Zealand in 1999 with a brilliant early run and then a sensational try which started their comeback.
Four years later he was in fine form in Australia but a reckless trip on Jason Robinson in the semi-final resulted in a yellow card and an ACL injury that kept him out of the game for nine months. Meanwhile at RWC2007 he was again at his inspiring best during another famous France winner over the All Blacks, this time in their quarter-final win in Cardiff when his defiant dismissal of a taunting Ali Williams during the haka helped set the tone for France who were big underdogs.
Ray Prosser (Pontypool, Wales, British and Irish Lions)
Died November 22, aged 93 Legendary Pontypool coach during the glory years in the 1970s and 1980s, Prosser was also a considerable player for his beloved Pooler and Wales – for whom he won 22 caps – while he toured New Zealand in 1959 with the Lions.
Injury and illness plagued him early on in New Zealand but he recovered fitness and form to play a notable part in the final Test which the Lions won. That five months was a seminal rugby experience for Prosser as he observed New Zealand rugby at first hand and it moulded the Pooler side he was to later coach with a massive emphasis on forward power and fitness. The formula brought five unofficial Welsh club championships and the WRU Cup in 1983.
Prosser, right, built two great Pooler sides, one in the mid-late 70s when skipper Terry Cobner led a side famed for their absolute ruthless forward power featuring the Pontypool front row– Graham Price, Bobby
Windsor and Charlie
Faulkner – at the peak of their power while in Robin Williams they possessed a remarkable goal kicking full-back.
Then between 1983-87 Prosser built another great side which although lacking the sheer dominance of the 70s pack were if anything even fitter. Price was still playing, Windsor occasionally and the likes of Jeff Squire, Eddie Butler, Chris Huish, Mark Brown and John Perkins made for a formidable set of forwards. They were backed by the remarkable skills of David Bishop, who Prosser supported to the hilt, and another exceptional goal-kicking full-back in Peter Lewis.
JJ Williams (Bridgend, Llanelli, Wales, British and Irish Lions)
Died October 29, aged 72
One of the legendary Welsh galacticos of the 70s who – like Gareth, Barry, JPR and Gerald – was identified by the simple use of his initials or Christian name. JJ was an absolute flying machine who in his pomp was as quick as any Test wing on the planet but he also had the footballing skills, notably his exquisitely judged chip ahead, and tryscoring nous to really ignite a match
JJ was born at Nantyffyllon, Maesteg, and his first club was Bridgend where he caused havoc on the wing for a couple of years in tandem with another speed merchant Vic Jenkins who was also tipped for great things. Together they electrified the Twickenham crowd one year at the Middlesex Sevens playing for the Public School Wanderers which is where his trademark chip and chase was first unveiled.
He represented Wales in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay at the 1970 Commonwealth Games and boasted a best of 10.6secs in the 100m before he concentrated full time on rugby. He moved to Llanelli where he played for the rest of his career, playing a part in their famous win over the All Blacks in 1972.
The Lions tour of South Africa in 1974 was his finest moment, with his extreme pace well suited to the many fast tracks the Lions encountered. JJ, above, helped himself to a brace of tries at Loftus Versveld in Pretoria and another couple at Port Elizabeth where the Lions clinched the Test series. Three years later, in New Zealand, he claimed a fifth Test try for the Lions with a welltaken effort in the second Test in Christchurch which they won 13-9.
Mike Slemen (Liverpool, England, British and Irish Lions) Died July 20, aged 69
Elegant England wing who cut an Edwardian dash with his trademark moustache, Slemen was a Rolls Royce wing with the footballing skills of a fullback, the position in which many critics felt he could have excelled. Instead he ploughed his own furrow out wide and won 31 England caps between 1976-84 and was proving a major success on the Lions tour to South Africa in 1980 when a difficult pregnancy for his wife saw him depart early.
Slemen learned his rugby at St Edward’s College Liverpool, one of the best school sides in the later 60s and 70s, noted among other things for their prowess at Sevens and then proved a star pupil – academically and in the sporting sense at St Luke’s College Exeter where he was the mainstay of a talented back division. In the summer he also proved to be a hostile fast bowler of some potential but Slem decided to stick with rugby.
He was a lifelong stalwart – as a player and then coach – of the Liverpool club, later amalgamated with St Helens to become Liverpool St Helens, and won all his caps out of the club, resisting the temptation to move to a bigger more established set-up.
A key contributor for the North in their famous win over the All Blacks in 1979, Slem was also ever-present during England’s 1980 Grand Slam campaign but despite all that is probably best known for being the man who touched down for the Lions’ remarkable team try in extra-time to beat a South African President’s XV later that summer. The ball went through 33 sets of hands – including Slem twice earlier in the
move – as the Lions, with the next stoppage due to end the game, indulged in a bout of fifteen-a-side Sevens to score the try and win the game.
Andy Haden (Auckland, Harlequins, Rome, New Zealand)
Died July 29, aged 69 Giant Kiwi lock and lineout specialist who won 41 All Black caps, Haden fought a long battle with cancer having first been diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia in 2002 before he eventually succumbed to lymphoma in July. No stranger to controversy, he more than most tested the amateur laws that prevailed during his time and won a notable court case in 1983 when he successfully argued that he should be permitted to keep the royalties of his autobiography Boots and all because he was by profession a writer.
He is, of course, best known for his ridiculous premeditated dive along with fellow lock Frank Oliver which conned a late match-winning penalty out of referee Roger Quittenden against Wales at the Arms Park in 1978. The Welsh never really forgave him but frankly players try it on constantly in elite rugby, it’s just that he got away with it.
A good tourist, Haden never ducked a challenge and holds the distinction, if that is the right word, of starting in all four of the All Blacks’ famous defeats in Britain and Ireland during the 70s. Against the North West Counties in November 1972 he packed down alongside Ian Eliason and two weeks later the duo were again in the boiler house when they lost 16-9 to Midlands Counties (West).
Then on the 1978 tour he and his old partner in crime and fellow diver Frank Oliver teamed up against Munster when the All Blacks famously lost 12-0 at Thomond Park and finally the old warhorse was manning the pumps the following year – this time alongside young John Fleming – when the All Blacks lost 21-9 to the North at Otley.
Dougie Morgan (Stewart's Melville, Scotland, British and Irish Lions)
Died April 5, aged 73
A quietly efficient scrum-half and superb goal-kicker, above, he should probably have won more than 21 Scotland caps although in fairness Alan Lawson provided stern opposition for the starting spot in the Scotland side for much of the 70s. He also won two Lions caps in 1977, scoring all their points in the heart-breaking 10-9 defeat in the final Test at Eden Park. After retiring from playing he was a shrewd presence behind the scenes and served Scotland at seven World Cups – five fifteen-a-side and two Sevens – as either coach, assistant coach or manager.
Jean Pierre Lux (France)
Died December 15, aged 74
Gifted France centre who enjoyed a second rugby career as an administrator, serving as chairman of the European Rugby Cup for 15 years between 1999-2014, the boom years of the competition when it grew in prestige and quality. Lux was a high class centre for Dax, winning 42 caps and scoring 12 tries when he played with flair and epitomised French cool. He was an important member of France’s first Grand Slam side in 1968. Throughout his long rugby career he worked as a dentist.
George Simpkin (Coaching guru)
Died May 7, aged 76
Remarkable, slightly eccentric, Kiwi coach and rugby missionary who travelled the world. Was in charge of Waikato for eight years and guided them to a Ranfurly Shield victory over Auckland; took Fiji to the 1987 World Cup quarter-finals and established their successful Sevens programme taking them to victory in Hong Kong; re-organised rugby in
Hong Kong, introduced it to the Red Army in China, helped coach Germany and established a thriving Sevens circuit in Sri Lanka. While coaching the Sri Lankan national side also masterminded their first ever away win in Test rugby, in the frozen wastes of Kazakhstan.
Terry Lineen (Auckland and New Zealand)
Died February 17, aged 84
Terry Lineen was a smooth as silk inside-centre and occasional fly-half, just like his son Sean who served Scotland some 30 years later. Lineen won 12 New Zealand caps in a career ended prematurely by injury at the age of 24. He was at his peak against a very good 1959 Lions when he was ever-present in the four Tests and also toured South Africa and Australia with the All Blacks. Of Irish heritage, he was educated at the Sacred Heart School a well-known producer of quality All Blacks, not least Sean Fitzpatrick
Garrett Fitzgerald (Munster) Died February 14, aged 65
Fitzgerald coached Munster to a famous win over Australia in 1992 and took over as CEO in 1999 when Munster were misfiring a little and only gave up the reins last year. On his watch Munster won two Heineken Cup titles in 2006 and 2008, were twice losing finalists and took three Celtic League titles in 2003, 2009 and 2011 and a Celtic Cup in 2005. Off the field he oversaw the revamping of Thomond Park into a shiny modern-day cathedral of rugby while there was the development of Musgrave Park in Cork and the introduction of a High Performance Centre at the University of Limerick.
John Young (Moseley, Harlequins, England and the British and Irish Lions)
Died March 19, aged 82
England wing who caused a sensation in 1956 when, as an 18-year-old schoolboy at Bishops Vesey’s GS he won the AAA 100 yards title in 9.9secs at the White City. In 1958 he joined Quins, made his England debut that same year and scored on his Lions debut against New Zealand in 1959 when he stepped in for the injured Peter Jackson. A lawyer by training he quickly tired of that and switched to the City and stockbroking.
Matt Ratana (East Grinstead RFC)
Died September 25, aged 54
Sgt Matt, below, was a popular and much-admired police officer and an inspiration at East Grinstead Rugby Club where he graduated from coaching the Colts section to First XV coach. Sergeant Ratana was shot on duty at the Croydon Custody centre as a suspect was being processed. A Kiwi who originated from Hawkes Bay, he learned his rugby at Palmerston North HS and Otago University where he also played local Premiership rugby for Ravensbourne RFC before he headed off to Europe in 1989.
Iain ‘Logie’ Laughland (London Scottish and Scotland)
Died August 9, aged 84
Laughland was an exceptional fifteens player for London Scottish and Scotland winning 31 caps mainly at centre and was sounded out for the captaincy of the 1966 Lions which he had to decline for work reasons. He helped Scotland to a draw against New Zealand in 1964 and an 8-5 win over the Springboks the following year. It was as an innovative, multi-skilled and exceptionally quick Sevens player, however, that Laughland really excelled, captaining London Scottish to five titles in six years at the Middlesex Sevens at Twickenham between 1960 and 1965.
Matthew Watkins (Newbridge, Newport, Llanelli Scarlets, Gloucester)
Died March 7, aged 41
Watkins – known as Matthew J to avoid confusion with a number of Welsh players sharing the same name – was a strong, classy centre who proved a magnificent performer with both Newport and Llanelli while he was unlucky to win ‘only’ 18 Wales caps. It was while qualifying as a coach in 2013 that he developed symptoms of a rare pelvic cancer and for a number of years he remained ‘well and active’ to use his own words but his condition deteriorated last year before he passed away in March.