David William Egerton (19 October 1961 – 8 February 2021) was an English rugby union international who represented

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

from 1988 to 1990. At club level, Egerton played for

Bath Rugby Bath Rugby is a professional rugby union club in Bath, Somerset, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. Founded in 1865 as Bath Football Club, since 1894 the club has played at the Recreation Ground, Bath, Rec ...

between 1985 and 1995. After retiring, Egerton worked as a coach for Bristol United and

Bridgwater & Albion Bridgwater & Albion Rugby Football Club is an England, English rugby union team based in Bridgwater, Somerset and run two senior teams, a newly formed senior women's team, a colts side and a youth section featuring the full range of age-groups. ...

Early life

David Egerton was born on 19 October 1961 in

Pinner Pinner is a suburb in the London Borough of Harrow, northwest London, England, northwest of Charing Cross, close to the border with Hillingdon, historically in the county of Middlesex. The population was 38,698 in 2021. Originally a mediaeval ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

, and from 1973 to 1980 attended

Bishop Wordsworth's School Bishop Wordsworth's School is a Church of England boys' grammar school in Salisbury, Wiltshire for boys aged 11 to 18. The school has been amongst the top-performing schools in England, and in 2010 was the school with the best results in the Eng ...

Rugby union career

Egerton primarily played as a number 8. Whilst at

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public university, public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university sinc ...

, he played for English Universities and England Students rugby teams. Egerton made 163 appearances for

between 1985 and 1995. He won five league titles, and five cup competitions with Bath, and helped them win the 1990

Pilkington Cup The Anglo-Welsh Cup (), was a cross-border rugby union knock-out cup competition that featured the 12 Premiership Rugby clubs and the four Welsh regions. It was a created as a replacement for the RFU Knockout Cup, which featured only English clubs ...

. He averaged one try every three games for Bath. He also played for the

Barbarians A barbarian is a person or tribe of people that is perceived to be primitive, savage and warlike. Many cultures have referred to other cultures as barbarians, sometimes out of misunderstanding and sometimes out of prejudice. A "barbarian" may ...

, making his debut for the club in the 1990 Lisbon Sevens tournament. Egerton made his international debut for

on 23 April 1988 at

Lansdowne Road Lansdowne Road Stadium (, ) was a stadium in Dublin owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) that was primarily used for rugby union and association football matches. The stadium was demolished in 2007 to make way for the Aviva Stadium on ...

against

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. Of the seven matches he played for the national side he was on the winning side on five occasions. He scored one international try, against Ireland in 1990. He was selected in the England squads for the

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

and

1991 Rugby World Cup The 1991 Rugby World Cup () was the second edition of the Rugby World Cup, and was jointly hosted by England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and France: at the time, the five European countries who participated in the Six Nations Championship, Five Na ...

s, but both times had to withdraw due to injury. He also played for the British and Irish Lions team which defeated France at Parc des Princes in October 1989. Egerton played his final match for England on 4 August 1990 at

José Amalfitani Stadium The José Amalfitani Stadium (also known as El Fortín de Liniers or Estadio Vélez Sarsfield) is a association football, football stadium located in the Liniers neighborhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina, near Liniers railway station. The venue is t ...

against

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

Post-retirement

After retiring as a player, Egerton became head coach of

. He scouted Richard Hill, who went to the same secondary school as Egerton had, and invited him to a Bath training session. Ahead of the 1997–98 season, Egerton joined Bristol United as a coach. In February 1998, Egerton became joint caretaker coach of Bristol, alongside Darryl Jones. The next month, he was appointed an assistant coach. He left the role during the 1998–99 season for personal reasons. Egerton later commentated for

BBC Radio Bristol BBC Radio Bristol is the BBC's local radio station serving the cities of Bristol and Bath and the unitary authorities of Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC ...

, and also worked in

investment management Investment management (sometimes referred to more generally as financial asset management) is the professional asset management of various Security (finance), securities, including shareholdings, Bond (finance), bonds, and other assets, such as r ...

in Hong Kong. Egerton returned to the United Kingdom in 2016, and lived in

Clifton, Bristol Clifton is an inner suburb of Bristol, England, and the name of one of the city's thirty-five Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, electoral wards. The Clifton ward also includes the areas of Cliftonwood and Hotwells. The easter ...

Death

Egerton died on 8 February 2021 after being hospitalised with

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

during the

COVID-19 pandemic in England The COVID-19 pandemic was first confirmed to have spread to England with two cases among Chinese nationals staying in a hotel in York on 31 January 2020. The two main public bodies responsible for health in England were NHS England and Public ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Egerton, David 1961 births 2021 deaths Alumni of Loughborough University Barbarian F.C. players Bath Rugby players British & Irish Lions rugby union players from England Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in England England international rugby union players English rugby union players Loughborough Students RUFC players People educated at Bishop Wordsworth's School People from Pinner Rugby union players from the London Borough of Harrow Rugby union number eights 1987 Rugby World Cup players 20th-century English sportsmen