Peter DIXON

                                            Biography of Peter Dixon's England rugby career.

Peter Dixon was described by journalist and former All Black scrum-half Chris Laidlaw as "the best big occasion man in England and the master of the back row offensive." Peter was indeed one of England's finest ever flankers and also made a name for himself with the British Lions before he had even played in the Five Nations Championship. Peter began his career with Gosforth, the same club that produced Roger Uttley, a player who arrived on the international scene a couple of years after Dixon. Peter himself made his debut in 1971 against a Presidents XV as part of the RFU's centenary celebrations. The match (played against various French, Australian and New Zealand stars) was lost 28-11, but Peter had already caught the eye of Lions coach Carywn James and soon found himself on the plane to New Zealand. He went on to play in three of the four tests in a Lions backrow which also comprised Welshmen John Taylor and Mervyn Davies. After the first two tests had been shared, Peter was dropped in order that Welshman Derek Quinnell could come in to take care of New Zealand's scrum-half Sid Going. The Lions won the test 13-3, with Peter reclaiming his place for the decisive fourth match and scoring his side's only try from a lineout to make the scores 8-8 at half-time. The Lions held on to draw the match 14-14, and so took the series 2-1, their first ever triumph against the All Blacks. Peter then came down to earth with a bump in the 1972 season. Now playing for Harlequins, he featured in all four matches of the Five Nations, but each of the games were lost to hand England the wooden spoon.

Part Two.

In 1973 England fared better than they had the year before and managed to recover from losing their first two matches to beat France and Scotland. First of all the French were dispatched 14-6 at Twickenham thanks to two Dave Duckham tries, and then in the Scotland game  Peter scored two tries himself in a 20-11 victory. He also played in all four matches of the 1974 Five Nations, but England finished bottom despite beating Wales for the first time since 1963. The 1975 and 1976 seasons were equally mediocre, but by now Peter had fallen out of favour with the selectors and played in only one game in each season. He returned in 1977 under the captaincy of his old teammate from Gosforth Roger Uttley and England actually looked like Championship contenders until they lost 4-3 to France in their third game. The Triple Crown was still a possibility, but England were unable to overcome the Cardiff jinx that had haunted them since 1963 and went down 14-9. The 1978 season proved to be Dixon's last in an England shirt, and he played in four matches in total including a defeat by France and victories over Scotland and Ireland. His 22nd and final appearance came against New Zealand at Twickenham later in the year. There was to be no happy ending though and the match was lost 16-6 as the All Blacks marched onwards towards their Grand Slam. A year later Dixon's champion in the press Chris Laidlaw rued the fact that he not been available to play the All Blacks in the equivalent 1979 fixture, saying: "I recall ten years ago trying to persuade the England selectors that he was the best back row man in the country. The Lions selectors thought so, but England could never make up their mind." (Jon Collins)