My Life in Rugby: Richard Moon – former Harlequins scrum-half
My hero, Jan Webster, and Les Cusworth, two former England internationals, are ex-players. It breaks my heart to see them languishing at the bottom of Midlands 1 West and struggling to put a side out. When my father was team secretary we regularly fielded five.
From Walsall I ended up playing in Wales with UWIST and then Abertillery. My debut was away to the great Pontypool side on a wet Wednesday night and Dai Bishop was opposite me at No. 9. Dai turned out in an International XV v Walsall match to mark my testimonial some years later. All the proceeds went to the Richard Langhorn Trust, which myself and a few Harlequins team-mates set up in his memory.
Local celebrity, Roy Wood, lead singer of Wizard, performed ‘I wish it could be Christmas every day’ live at the ground; it was a memorable way to sign off!
While at Abertillery, I also captained the club’s Centenary celebration match against the touring national Japan team.
My studies took me to Cambridge University where I developed a lifelong friendship with Gavin Hastings, who was also at Magdalene College and part of a Light Blues backline that was littered with internationals. My half-back partner was the unflappable Rob Andrew. After the 1984 Varsity Match, Rob and I joined Nottingham who were coached by the free-thinking Alan Davies.
Then on to Harlequins. Again, I was fortunate to play with some great players – Paul Ackford was still a copper in Clapham back then – and, under Dick Best, we played a great brand of rugby. Beating Bristol to win the 1988 John Player Cup and the Middlesex Sevens on back-to-back Saturdays in front of two sell-out crowds at Twickenham was a moment I’ll always cherish. I even got to play hooker while at the Stoop. At the end of every training session I replaced John Olver in the front row. Dick thought that by doing that he’d make me appreciate the consequences of not putting the ball in straight. It worked!
I was knocking on the door of the England set-up. I’d been capped at U23 and England B level but couldn’t force my way past Marcus Hannaford and Richard ‘Corky’ Harding. Those two never seemed to get injured. Nigel Melville, of course, wasn’t so fortunate but everyone used to compare his incredibly slick pass more favourably to mine. I don’t think any of the present incumbents have a pass anywhere near as quick as Nigel’s.
In Sevens, I played in Hong Kong, Singapore and America. My free-flowing style earned me many Barbarian caps, the most memorable being against Leicester in the Boxing Day fixture when I scored two tries as a replacement on the wing!
From Quins I joined a very good Rosslyn Park team. Hugh McCardy and Phil Keith-Roach were coaching and Andy Ripley – what a great bloke he was – was president.
Having qualified in Law, I decided to practice back home in the Midlands. After a spell at Moseley I returned to Walsall where I played until 1997.
I’ve remained involved in rugby ever since, representing Cambridge on the RFU Council and establishing what is now known as the RPA. In 2012 I set up an equivalent body to represent coaches. These days I spend most of my time watching Wasps, as a commentator for BBC Coventry & Warwickshire.
