Greatest hooker but no linguist!

I WAS saddened to hear of the death of England’s greatest hooker, John Pullin.

Peter Jackson’s tribute was an excellent article. I would like to add the tale of a very small incident in JP’s life.

I attended Bristol club, Clifton RFC’s centenary dinner in 1972 where John, England’s captain was the principal guest. The dinner was held after Clifton’s game against French club Begles whose players attended the dinner. The speeches commenced and each speaker tried to use some form of French to open their contributions. John’s speech was the last. He stood up and said: “The only French I can do is ‘how bist thee’.” A very Bristolian sentiment!