The debate as to who was rugby’s quickest ever player is perennial and one of those always mentioned is former Harlequins, England and Lions flyer John Young who has recently passed away aged 82.
Young was just an 18-year-old schoolboy at Bishops Vesey’s GS when he won the AAA 100 yards title – the British Championships – in 9.9secs in 1956 on what amounted to a ploughed field at the White City which was always a graveyard for sprinters at the best of times, let alone after a week’s unrelenting rain.
The Pathe news reel of the Championships centred on Chri...