Come hell or high water, The Grim Reaper never fails to take a day off from scything through his grisly business. A sample of his victims over the course of the old year left the old game mourning the loss of, among others, the following in descending order of seniority:
Eric Tweedale (Australia, aged 102)
Might well have wound up playing for the Rochdale Hornets had his family not emigrated from the old mill town a century ago. Instead young Eric grew into the longest-lasting of all Test props.
Played 10 times for the Wallabies in the late 1940s in a pack containing two of the game’s most colourful characters: Sir Nick Shehadie and Dave Brockhoff, head coach when the Aussies ‘went the biff ‘ in their winning 1978 series against Wales.
Roy Roper (New Zealand, aged 100)
A veritable midget at 11 stone wringing wet and 5ft 8in, he played in three positions on debut against Australia in 1949, starting on the left wing, moving to fullback and finishing in the centre.
The oldest living All Black until his death in October, the Taranaki centenarian’s other claim to fame stemmed from his service during the Second World War. He was part of a New Zealand Naval unit assigned to sentry duty outside Winston Churchill’s cabin aboard the Queen Mary sailing home to Southampton from New York.
Syd Millar (Ireland, aged 89)
No British or Irish Lion can have roared louder or longer than the Ulster man from Ballymena: three tours as a player (1959, 1962, 1968), one as coach (South Africa, 1974), one as manager (South Africa, 1980) and one as chair man (Australia, 2001).
Ken Scotland (Scotland, aged 86)
Redefined the role of the full-back, from the last line of defence into the first point of attack. Sheer pace and the unfailing precision of his passing made him a big hit wherever he played, notably in New Zealand with the Lions.
Clive Rowlands (Wales, aged 86)
The irrepressible Top Cat: serial winner of Grand Slams and Triple Crowns as captain, coach, chairman of selectors and chorister.
Brian Price (Wales, aged 86)
A Test Lion in New Zealand in 1966 three years after leading Newport to their epic victory over Wilson Whineray’s mighty All Blacks.
Bev Risman (England, aged 85)
Son of a famous Welsh father who made a name for himself on both sides of the rugby divide, as a double Lion in Union and League.
Pat Casey (Ireland, aged 82)
Forever remembered by students of Anglo-Irish rugby history for finishing off one of the great Irish tries at Twickenham in 1964, as engineered by Mike Gibson of Ulster and Jerry Walsh of Munster.
David Watkins (Wales, aged 81)
Captained Wales and the Lions before signing for Salford at the age of 24. Broke records galore.
Tane Norton (New Zealand, aged 81)
Always said that he and the All Blacks would have walked out en masse in support of Keith Murdoch had they only known he had been sent home during the troubled tour of 1972-73.
Peter Dixon (England, aged 79)
Acclaimed by the All Blacks as England’s ‘best big occasion player’, he proved the point by scoring the Lions’ only try in the drawn final Test of their series win in New Zealand in 1971.
Alain Esteve (France, aged 77)
A law unto himself, the fearsome second row stood out in the brutal France pack of the early Seventies. His nickname, ‘The Beast of Beziers’, said it all.
David Duckham (England, aged 76).
Dazzling wing loved so much by Welsh fans that many claimed ‘Dai’ Duckham as one of their own.
Bruce Robertson (New Zealand, aged 71)
Lauded by more than one of his peers as ‘the best centre in the world throughout the Seventies’. Despite recurring hamstring problems still played more than a century of matches for the All Blacks.
Paul ‘The Judge’ Rendall (England, aged 69)
A more popular player would be hard to find. Lost his fight against Motor Neurone Disease last summer.
Greig Oliver (Scotland, aged 58)
Capped during the inaugural World Cup as Gary Ar mstrong’s scrum-half understudy. Killed in a paragliding accident during last summer’s Junior World Cup in Cape Town where his son, Jack, had been playing for Ireland.
Hannes Styrdom (S Africa, aged 58)
Fifth member of the Springboks‘ first World Cup-winning squad to lose his life, following Ruben Kruger, Joost van der Westhuizen, Chester Williams and James Small.
