Sad news. The England rugby union player David Duckham has died at the age of 76.
When I was a boy you did not support England so much as suffer with them. There always seemed to be four new caps, and the they always seemed to lose.
Just about the only constant in those days was David Duckham, by some way our best player. Even the Welsh honoured him by calling him "Dai Duckham".
Duckham had played on the wing for the British Lions team that won in New Zealand in 1970/1, but England generally played him in the centre in the hope that he would see more of the ball there.
The video above gives you an idea of his abilities.
It's also worth noting that Duckham played for Coventry, who were the best club side in England in the Sixties and early Seventies.
5 comments:
Duckham was magnificent but, as a Brummie, I'd take issue with your claim that Coventry were the finest club at that time, as I believe that honour should go to Moseley in Birmingham, Coventry's big club rivals. Moseley reached the final of the inaugural RFU Cup in 1972 and the following season had nine players in the Midland Counties West side that defeated the touring All Blacks at The Reddings. (I skived off junior school to watch it.)
In the pre-professional days of the 70s, they were in the top three or four English clubs and several times won the 'merit table' published by the press. It's extraordinary to think that there wasn't even a league structure back then.
Sadly, years of mismanagement and a disastrous fire that destroyed much of the main stand at The Reddings saw the club sink into the lower levels, from which it's never recovered, now being just one part of Birmingham Moseley Rugby Club.
https://moseleyrugby.co.uk/the-club/history/
Sam Doble, Jan Webster, isn't it? Marvellous!
I am almost exactly the same age as David Duckham was and saw him play many times. He was a classic icon of the pre professional era, and very good. Modern day centres are much bulkier than Duckham was and the modern day distinction between 11 and 12 wasn’t so pronounced in DD’s day.
I remember watching Grandstand growing up in the 80s and they would mention a number of teams in the merit table who, in the professional era, have spent most of their existence outside the top flight - Vale of Lune, Orrell, Nottingham, Bedford etc. It really was a different game back then.
With regard to David Duckham, there is a longer 9-minute clip of the Baa Baas vs New Zealand 1973 on YouTube that features a lot of Duckham's running. He was pacy, with a great body swerve and quick enough of thought to know where to go to next. He'll be sorely missed
@Matt Pennell,
"It really was a different game back then."
And in many ways better to watch. I was watching the 1st XVs of two strong public schools the other day - a flanker was sin-binned for deliberate foul play. Technically they were excellent, but I'd rather watch Duckham, Bennet, JPR Andy Irvine, Mike Gibson and the rest than the modern stars.
Tristan Ward
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