A Cov Team to take on the World*

By Kimbo
April 16 2021

A RECENT thread on the Message Board, together with a thread spotted on the Penzance & Newlyn forum, prompted a line of thought and some grinding of gears in my head that meant I had to pursue that line further. Covchopper started a very interesting thread discussing quality Cov fly halves, and the perceived paucity of them in comparison with other positions. It has prompted a fairly lively discussion (much needed, let's face it, and which has rather lifted my spirits with regards to the relevance of the otherwise flagging site, so for that, thanks CC!).

It got me thinking about a PzN discussion regarding, and I may be paraphrasing slightly without checking back 'A Cornish Side to Take on the World'. The premise was to put together a fifteen (or even 23?) of post-war Cornish-born players that could, as stated 'take on the world'.

While the latter mooted ambition may well be seen as a tad ambitious, it's nevertheless an interesting proposition, and one that I thought may be worth extrapolating in a northerly direction. All the way to Coventry, in fact.

Now, Penzance (and even including Newlyn) doesn't come close to Coventry in terms of population, unsurprisingly, so the extension of the gene-pool to the whole of the county of Cornwall is probably fair enough, and I wouldn't argue it. They do have an advantage in one respect, though, in that there are no pro soccer (or Ice Hockey, Rugby League, etc.) sides within that boundary, and further, the population of the county is somewhat larger than our city (by maybe 200,000 depending on the measures used).

So, what have we got?

Well, a lot of England internationals, that's for sure. For the sake of this screed, it should be noted that I have tried to keep the starting XV to Coventry-born players only, that have at least one cap for their country (not necessarily England as will become clear), and where I've considered that we have more than one that should be starting, I've added those too. It'll also be noted that I'm not sticking solely to players that have turned out for Cov. The qualification is that they are Coventry-born, and have gained international caps (influenced by the Penzance thread)

For a 'Replacements' bench, I've purposely spread the parameters a little further to include players that are from the wider 'Warwickshire' (in an RFU sense, and in the sense of the county that many (most?) of us were born in pre-1971) region. How could we leave out the likes of our highest-try-scoring No8, and possibly the finest winger to ever grace a rugby pitch?

I've also purposely left out the likes of Dick Cowman, Huw Davies, Marcus Rose etc. etc. purely because they weren't born in Coventry, or even the county. Sounds harsh, but my bat, my ball, etc...

Starting, then, at full-back, or 15, as I'll be sticking with current numbering conventions, and the stand-out just happens to still be strongly associated with the club as Mr President –

PETER ROSSBOROUGH. Peter gained seven caps for England between 1971 and 1975. These were the days, of course, when England caps were hard to come by with very restricted numbers of matches played outside of the Five Nations tournament, so seven caps is a very respectable total under the circumstances.

On the wing, two absolute 'Prince of Wingers' candidates jump off the page, and select themselves, although one of them was born a few miles west of the city and thereby is relegated to the bench, thus leaving:

DAVID DUCKHAM as the name that everybody in the game knows. Thirty six caps for England between 1969 and 1976, a huge number back then, says it all. A paltry three British Lions caps add to the total, but just go to underline the effect the side-stepping maestro had on the game through the seventies. Nothing more needs saying really.

GEOFF EVANS, centre,played for England between 1972 and 1974, accruing nine caps, and toured South Africa with the British Lions.

PETER PREECE, son of one of Cov's finest ever fly halves, Ivor, gets the other centre position, having accrued twelve caps for England between 1972 and 1976.

On the other wing I've, perhaps slightly controversially, gone for a Coundon Court boy who was seduced by the club at the other end of the M69, in:

LEON LLOYD. A big abrasive runner who also covered centre well, and won five England caps in 2000/2001

Moving to the half-back positions, the obvious candidate at stand-off would be:

IVOR PREECE who graced the Coundon road grass for many years around the middle of the twentieth century, and gained 13 caps for England (and one for the British Lions) between 1948 and 1951

BILL GITTINGS joins him at scrum-half. Almost criminally under-recognised, Billy was only awarded a solitary cap for England vs New Zealand in 1967. Like many other Cov players, he could consider himself unlucky in a way to be playing for unfashionable working-class Coventry.

Into the forwards, and we have a much increased choice. Of course, Graham Robbins isn't qualified here, being a Warwickshire county man, so sits it out on the bench, however his namesake:

PETER ROBBINS gets the nod at six with nineteen England caps between 1956 and 1962.

I was thinking in terms of Adam Balding at No8, but of course Adam never managed a full England cap ('only' England Saxons), so doesn't qualify here, so I'll drop in:

TOM WOOD as a decent substitute. I realise he is generally classed as a six, but is a more than capable no.8 too. Tom gained 50 England caps between 2011 and 2017.

NEIL BACK completes the back row at openside. Gaining a huge 77 England caps along with a handful of Lions ones too between 1995 and 2004, including a World Cup medal, Backy has a massive reputation for all sorts of reasons and simply couldn't be overlooked here.

In the boiler room, nobody, but nobody in their right mind is going to leave out:

DANNY GREWCOCK. A Cov player who won his first England cap before moving on to Saracens, and then Bath, Danny is another Cov-Kid with a World Cup gong in his trophy cabinet, and won 74 England caps and five Lions caps between 1997 and 2007. Some record.

I was intending to include Scotland International Jim Hamilton here, but am advised he was actually born in Swindon, although, as we know he was brought up in Cov and attended Woodlands School along with Neil Back. I will stretch the boundary very, very slightly though for the player that makes the side:

JOHN BARTON with four caps for England between 1967 and 1972

In the front row we have almost an embarrassment of riches when it comes to England internationals of course, but a few, Welsh-born Bert Godwin for instance, although considered to be Cov-Kids by many, actually don't qualify here, so the choices are made slightly easier than I originally expected, and so at hooker we have:

ERNIE ROBINSON. Ernie won his four England caps between 1954 and 1961, underlining the durabilility and yet under-utilization of this great player.

And then we come to props, and there lies a tough decision, and one where I'm calling up more than the required number to the starting lineup, and make no apologies for that:

PHIL JUDD No doubt that Juddy makes the cut. One of the finest scrummagers the game has ever seen. An absolute rock, feared wherever he went, and 22 England caps between 1962 and 1967 bears clear testament to that fact.

ROB HARDWICK fills one of the slots. 'Tank' won his sole England cap in 1997, but can count himslf unfortunate to have been left warming the bench for a further five international clashes. Someone who came back strongly from an injury that might have finished lesser men.

HARRY WALKER. Who could deny 'H' a place in this lineup? Sadly denied more caps by the intervention of war, Harry won the first of his nine caps in his early thirties in 1947, and was until his recent death England's oldest surviving international. He also turned out for the Midlands division, thirty times for the great Warwickshire side, and was a Barbarian. Harry went on to fill almost every position at his club after his retirement from playing. The word legend is designed for men such as this.

And that wraps up the main event, leaving a 'bench' (although it's not really a bench in the true sense) of Warwickshire-born (and some Coventry-born) players who may or may not have played for Cov.

GRAHAM ROBBINS. A legend in his own lunchtime, Godber amassed just two full England caps in 1986, which, I'm sure, he'll tell you wasn't nearly enough (and given the size of him, plus his incredible record for Cov at No8, few will argue).

STEVE BRAIN. Outstanding hooker for Cov and then Rugby Lions. 13 caps between 1984 and 1986, it wasn't his fault he was born in Birmingham.

PETER JACKSON. Those that were privileged to see him glide around the Coundon Road pitch will probably tell you he was the finest winger ever to don Blue & White, and that's some accolade given the competition. Peter won 25 England caps and five Lions caps between 1956 and 1963 – just before my time supporting the club, sadly.

JOHN OWEN. Like Robbins, from Sutton Coldfield, lock forward John received his fourteen England caps between 1963 and 1966

TIM DALTON. The fly-half from Warwick won just the one England cap against Scotland in 1969

TOM PARGETTER won his three England caps as a lock in 1962/63

KEITH FAIRBROTHER acquired his 12 England caps while with Cov between 1969 and 1971 before moving north to play RL with Leigh.

RICHARD COCKERILL. The Leamington Hastings hooker played for Cov before moving on to Leicester Tigers and launching an illustrious England career, gaining 27 caps between 1997 and 1999

There are more, but that's enough for now, as it's probably appropriate to mention another Warwickshire-born man who didn't play for Cov:

MARTIN JOHNSON. Not much needs saying about World Cup skipper Jonno except ninety two England caps, eight Lions caps, and a World Cup winner's medal. That says it all.

So, it's not hard to spot that the city of Coventry and its surrounding county are true hotbeds (yes, it's a hackneyed phrase, but absolutely appropriate here) of rugby.

Is it any wonder certain other clubs cast their eyes enviously in this direction when searching for talent?

No sir.

Not one bit.

A Cov Team to take on the World*

Posted by: Unofficial Coventry Rugby (IP Logged)

Date: 16/04/2021 13:51

What do you think? You can have your say by posting below.
If you do not already have an account Click here to Register.

Edited 6 time(s). Last edit at 2021:04:25:17:05:50 by Kimbo.