| Maurice Colclough |
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| England |
| 1978-1986 |
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| Lock |
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| Wednesday, 2nd September 1953. Oxford |
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Saturday, 4th March 1978 v Scotland (Murrayfield) won 15-0 (FN)
(Aged: 24) |
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| 15/3/86 v France (Paris) lost 29-10 (FN) |
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| 25 |
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| Photo/Foto: George Herringshaw |
Date: 19th November 1983 |
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| At the beginning of the 1982 season England faced Australia in one off test at Twickenham and used their huge pack to nullify a talented Wallaby team. Australia scored two tries, both by Brendan Moon, but England won 15-11 thanks to Marcus Rose's accuracy with the boot and a try by Nick Jeavons. The 1982 Five Nations produced mixed fortunes with two matches from four won, though Maurice was to enter rugby folklore for tricking his Swansea teammate Colin Smart into drinking aftershave following a victory over France! Colclough played in just one game of the 1983 Five Nations, a defeat by France, but was selected again for the British Lions where he again played in all four tests. Now more mature, Maurice had a better tour than in 1980 and even though all of the tests were lost, he helped the Lions pack compete on something like level terms with the All Blacks. However, later in the year Colclough gained revenge when he scored his only international try in England's 15-9 win over New Zealand at Twickenham (the picture above shows Maurice cooling off after scoring!). Unfortunately, that triumph was not the beginning of a new era and England played poorly in the 1984 Five Nations, losing three of their four matches including a 32-18 drubbing by France in Paris. Maurice played one last season in 1986, featuring in all four matches of a campaign that included defeats by France and Scotland and victories over Wales and Ireland. Maurice retired after the France match, and in doing so was the final member of the 1980 Grand Slam team to call it a day. Colclough may not be talked of in the same breath as the likes of Bill Beaumont or Tony Neary, but he was a highly significant player and set the standard for future stars of the second row such as Paul Ackford, Wade Dooley and Martin Johnson. (Jon Collins) |
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| This photograph is the copyright © of George Herringshaw & sporting-heroes.net |
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