Jeremy GUSCOTT

Nicknamed "The Prince of Centres", Bath's Jeremy Guscott enjoyed the respect of rugby followers across the world for his speed, determination and all round skill. Jeremy's main attributes were his superb rugby brain and the fact that he could do just about everything - tackle, score tries, drop goals and create opportunities for others. However, perhaps the single factor that set him apart was his superb acceleration which allowed him to exploit the narrowest of gaps and unlock a defence. This skill was not always needed in the forward orientated England teams of the early 1990s, but on the occasions when the national side decided to play rugby, he was quite lethal.

After paying his dues for several years on the club circuit for Bath, the former building site labourer made his England debut in May 1989 against Romania. All the Guscott skills were on show in Bucharest and Jeremy helped himself to a hattrick in England's 58-3 victory. On the strength of his debut performance, Jeremy was then selected for the British Lions tour to Australia. The first test was lost by an almost embarrassing margin of 30-12, prompting a change of tactics and personnel, with the centre pairing of Mike Hall and Brendan Mullin replaced with Jeremy and Scott Hastings. These and other changes proved crucial, and the Lions won the second test 19-12 with Jeremy scoring what would prove his only Lions try. Amidst the backdrop of much complaining about the Lions so called roughhouse tactics, the third test was also won 19-17, a game memorable for David Campese's infamous cock up.

After this superb start to his career, Jeremy's next outing was against Fiji at Twickenham (see photo above) where he had a hand in all five of Rory Underwood's tries as well as adding another to his own collection. The Fiji test saw him line up for the first time alongside skipper Will Carling, and the two proved to be an effective combination in the centres, eventually playing in a record breaking 45 matches together. (Jon Collins)

Jeremy Guscott entered his first Five Nations Championship in 1990 with eager anticipation, knowing that both he and the rest of the England side were on top of their game. His first try in the Championship came in the opening 23-0 victory against Ireland when he burst through the defence following a pass from Will Carling. In the next game against France he scored another when Denis Charvet's kick rebounded fortuitously off Carling, leaving Guscott with a straight one on one with Serge Blanco. Showing no respect for the legendary fullback from Biarritz, Jeremy kicked ahead, regathered and then went over for the try. By the time Guscott and co arrived in Edinburgh for the Grand Slam showdown with Scotland, England were looking like a well oiled machine, powerful up front and highly creative in the backs. Scotland, it seemed, didn't have a prayer.

However, England hadn't counted on a Scottish side that had the "Braveheart" spirit tattooed on their foreheads and the roar of a passionate Murrayfield crowd behind them. Guscott was able to score what was perhaps his best try to date when he dummied the defence in the first half, but it was not enough and Scotland won 13-7. Years later Jeremy would comment: "People look for excuses when sides lose unexpectedly. They say things like the team didn't work hard enough, or accuse them of not being up for it. That's bull. Its usually down to one team making more errors than usual and the other side deserving to win." After a year of immense highs and lows, Guscott decided to opt out of the summer tour of Argentina, but he did line up against the Puma's later in the year at Twickenham and combined with Rory Underwood to score a try in England's 51-0 victory. (Jon Collins)