Man behind the match: Prince of Pace ensured England wore the crown
As the final whistle goes in their one and only warm-up game the nation’s best have been thumped by Dundee Royal High.
And waiting for them at Murrayfield aren’t former school pupils but the great and the good of world rugby – Australians Michael Lynagh and David Campese, Welshmen Rob Howley and Neil Jenkins as well Joost van der Westhuizen and Chester Williams of the Springboks.
Not only that but England’s coach Les Cusworth had just two weeks to turn his rag-tag bunch into world beaters – surely it couldn’t be done?
Wrong. Alongside an inspired Dave Scully – who juggled his rugby career with a job as a fireman – and 20-year-olds Lawrence Dallaglio and Matt Dawson was some real quality in the likes of Tim Rodber, Adedayo Adebayo, Chris Sheasby, Nick Beal, Damian Hopley and Justyn Cassell.
But there was no hiding the real jewel in England’s crown – captain and ‘Prince of Pace’ Andrew Harriman.
If you needed any evidence of that then it didn’t come any more emphatic than when he showed Campese a clean pair of heels to open the scoring in the final, firing England to a 21-17 victory over Australia to become the first team to hold the Melrose Cup and claim the title of Sevens World Champions.
But Hopley – who admits their warm-up defeat was probably his fault – insists Harriman’s influence stretched far wider than just blistering speed.
“The tournament was kicking off on a Friday and the Monday before it was my 23rd birthday,” says Hopley, now chief executive of The Rugby Players’ Association.” Since I was studying at the University of St Andrews I knew Edinburgh pretty well so I took the lads out for a bit of team bonding.
“My local knowledge led to a good night and we got to know one another but we were feeling slightly worse for wear the next day and ending up getting thumped by former pupils of Dundee Royal High.
“It wasn’t the best of starts and I guess we were thinking ‘what are we doing here?’ and Les was probably tearing out what little hair he had left fearing national embarrassment.
“We had the grand total of three international caps between us as Tim Rodber had two and Andrew Harriman had one but we knew we were all quality players.
“And even though we were a ramshackle bunch drawn together, we had one thing up our sleeve and that was our outstanding captain who gave us all the self belief needed to go on and win the thing.
“Andrew would really encourage us and we grew under his captaincy. He really forged the team.
“In the final when you saw Andrew burn past David Campese in the first minute you sensed it could be our day.
“Everything seemed to start and finish with him. He was just an outstanding talent that we were very lucky to have in an England shirt.”
Harriman had shown his Sevens class with Harlequins in three Middlesex tournaments. In the 1991 event he scored seven tries in four ties. That season Harriman scored 18 tries in 19 appearances for Quins, including a brilliantly taken try to beat Northampton in the final of the Pilkington Cup.
Harriman, born in Nigeria but educated at Radley College and Cambridge University, had won his only England cap against the touring Australians in 1988.
Hopley remembers: “In Murrayfield there were banners in the crowd with his name on. He become a bit of a cult figure because he was absolute lightning.
“But to say he was just pure pace is too easy as he was a great player. The way he lifted those around him was crucial.”
Despite doubling up as a firefighter Scully was not in the England side purely to make up the numbers – keeping future XV’s World Cup winner Dawson out of the side in Scotland.
And he, too, admits that having Harriman as their secret weapon was a blessing in disguise, not to mention much better than having to face him.
“The highlight of my career is winning the 1993 Rugby World Cup Sevens with England and it is crazy to think that Matt Dawson was my understudy!” Scully said.
“But even though we only had two weekends together before the competition all of us in the squad in our own way had something about us and the likes of Tim Rodber and Lawrence Dallaglio were outstanding.
“But Andrew was something else. He brought the belief that we could win it and he led by example as well as he was fantastic throughout the whole competition.
“We knew that if we could get the ball wide with his pace he would skin anyone and he was the fastest man in the tournament by far.
“I don’t think anyone really expected us to do anything but with Andrew leading the way we really felt that we could do it all.
“I don’t want to go as far as saying that we might not have won it without him but he was that important – I certainly wouldn’t have fancied having to try and stop him in full flow.”
England’s tournament got off to a fine start as, across the first two days, Cusworth’s troops lost just once – to Samoa – to book their spot on the third and final day.
Hong Kong, Spain, Canada and Namibia were no match for England who conceded just ten points in those four clashes – racking up 128 at the other end in reply.
But it was after the first 48 hours that the real hard work started as England would have to win five more grueling games on the final day to be crowned world champions – and the fixture gods weren’t smiling on the Red Rose camp.
In their quarter-final pool Australia, South Africa and New Zealand were all waiting, but despite losing 21-12 to the Wallabies, victories over the other two Southern Hemisphere giants,
21-12 against New Zealand and 14-7 versus South Africa, had England marching into the semi-finals.
Fiji were next up and this was Scully’s time to shine – not that he remembers it too well.
“I won the award for ‘Moment of the Tournament’ for my try-saving tackle on the Fijian Mesake Rasari in the semi-final and that’s what I’ve become quite well remembered for, despite the fact that I don’t remember it myself,” Scully said.
“Rasari was wearing a knee brace and his knee collided with my head and I was out cold for a bit and felt quite groggy after that.
“But I got up and played on for the end of the semi and then the final straight after and didn’t really think too much of it – I wasn’t exactly going to sit out now was I?
“I must have been pretty severely concussed because it was only the next day when I watched the highlights that I realised what else had happened in the semi-final.”
But Scully putting his body on the line was well worth it as England had the chance to enact some revenge on the Aussies in the showpiece.
And Harriman gave them an advantage straight from the kick off. England passed the ball through every pair of hands before it ended up in the captain’s grasp on the left wing.
Standing between him and the tryline was the seemingly immovable object of Campese – Player of the Tournament as the Wallabies claimed the XV’s World Cup title two years earlier.
But the future Hall of Famer was not able to deal with Harriman’s quick feet and within the blink of an eye England’s captain had breezed past him and was on his way to putting his side 7-0 up.
Things then went from good to great for England as first Dallaglio doubled the lead before Rodber went over – showing Lynagh a clean pair of heels in the process – meaning England had scored tries with the first three restarts of the game.
But if there is one thing that Australian rugby has always had it is the ability to fight until the very end and, after Lynagh touched down just before half-time, the Wallabies brought the scores to within four points through tries from Campese and Semi Taupeaafe.
And if Scully didn’t already have a headache after his semi-final heroics then the Australian fight back was definitely giving him plenty more pain.
“Despite what had happened to me against Fiji I wasn’t going to miss the final and that was a nerve racking game to play in,” Scully added.
“We went 21-0 up having scored on the first three restarts of the game and were cruising but then they came back in the second half and I think we were all looking at each other at the end thinking ‘we hope the referee doesn’t play any injury time’.
“Near the end we were just trying to keep the ball as best we could so they didn’t have a chance to score and it was such a relief when the final whistle went.”
For once the majority of the Murrayfield crowd cheered an English success.
Hopley was injured by the time the final came along but he was not spared from going through the same range of emotions the players were on the pitch.
He says: “You don’t expect Australia just to lie down. They have a real mongrel ability about them in that they fight back and scrap for everything.
“So a fightback was always on the cards and David Campese started it off as he scored a very good try.
“Having played nine games before the final up in Edinburgh I think all of the guys were out on their feet and blowing by the end.
“But they dug deep and when the final whistle went we were world champions – we couldn’t believe it.”
While ‘understudy’ Dawson went on to add a XV’s World Cup winners medal to his 1993 success – along with Dallaglio – the names of Scully and Northampton full-back Beal have somewhat drifted from the nation’s conscious.
But what Cusworth’s band of merry men did north of the border was no less emphatic in the first competition of its kind and with just two weeks to formulate a plan.
Admittedly part of that masterplan might have been just give the ball to Harriman, but Hopley believes the class of ‘93 should have just as big place in English rugby history as those who followed on a decade later Down Under.
“We had a great night of celebrations for a couple of days after the final against Australia I can tell you that for sure,” Hopley said. “And to be honest I think we are still celebrating 20 years on because it was a really special time and brought us all together.
“In many ways we are the best kept secret in English rugby because while a lot of people remember being there and enjoying the tournament thoroughly I think our achievement has been lost somewhat in the story.
“But we all know the tremendous amount of hard work that went into winning the World Cup Sevens and that will never be taken away from us.
“It is just a shame that someone like Andrew and the rest of the guys don’t perhaps get the recognition they deserve. It was a great competition and a lot of happy memories for everyone involved.”
After returning from Scotland as a World Cup winner Scully went back to running out for Wakefield before moving onto Otley, Doncaster, Sheffield Tigers and Wheatley Hill – hanging up his boots only this summer at the age of 47.
There is no doubt that 1993 was the pinnacle of Scully’s career but he believes the good times could come roaring back to England, with him and his team-mates showing exactly how it is done.
“A couple of months back I turned on Total Rugby and they were looking back at the 1993 Rugby Sevens World Cup. It was great to watch it all again,” he said.
“The memory of it will live long – I can’t get enough of talking about it really.
“I know Lawrence Dallaglio and Matt Dawson went on to win the XV’s World Cup but the Sevens World Cup hasn’t been won by an English side since.
“That could all change in the future because there is a lot more emphasis on the game now with the World Series going to eight different countries.
“And with it included in the Olympics from Rio in 2016 that is only going to make it bigger.
“I guess we showed how it is done and there is a simple sure-fire way to ensure victory – get yourself an Andrew Harriman!”
