David Tait (5 July 1987 – 12 December 2012) was a professional

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player for

Sale Sharks Sale Sharks are a professional rugby union club from Greater Manchester, England, United Kingdom. Its team play in Premiership Rugby, and have been in England's top division of rugby union continuously since 1995. Originally founded in 1861 as ...

in the

Guinness Premiership Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition, consisting of 10 clubs, and is the top division of the English rugby u ...

Career

Tait played as a Number 8, although he could also operate as a Flanker. He also represented Scotland at rugby sevens. Tait made his Sale debut in a

Powergen Cup The RFU Knockout Cup was an English rugby union competition open to any member of the Rugby Football Union. First contested in 1971, it was the premier competition in English club rugby before the establishment of the English league structure in 1 ...

match against Llanelli Scarlets. He "left the club in 2010 after suffering persistent injuries, having made just 40 appearances". Tait represented the England Under 20 team. He was called up to the England sevens training squad for the

2008–09 IRB Sevens World Series The 2008–09 IRB Sevens World Series was the tenth of an annual IRB Sevens World Series of rugby union sevens tournaments for full national sides run by the International Rugby Board since 1999–2000. South Africa clinched the 2008–09 Wo ...

. However, Tait did not represent England and later competed for

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

at the 2009 Dubai Sevens. In November 2011, Tait started a career at

KPMG KPMG is a multinational professional services network, based in London, United Kingdom. As one of the Big Four accounting firms, along with Ernst & Young (EY), Deloitte, and PwC. KPMG is a network of firms in 145 countries with 275,288 emplo ...

Hong Kong in the Corporate Finance team. While there, he also became captain for the Kowloon RFC first fifteen. He went on to lead the first team to their first Hong Kong Premiership League title in 30 years, during the 2011–2012 season.

Personal life

Tait was born in

Sale, Greater Manchester Sale is a town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. It is on the south bank of the River Mersey, south of Stretford, northeast of Altrincham, and southwest of Manchester. Sale lies within the Historic counties of England, historic count ...

, England, where he attended

Sale Grammar School Sale Grammar School is a grammar school located in Sale, Greater Manchester, Sale to the south of Manchester, England. The school became an Academy Trust Grammar School in 2011. Admission to the school is through its own entrance examination. Tr ...

. Later he attended

Sedbergh School Sedbergh School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, private boarding school, boarding and day school, day school) in the town of Sedbergh in Cumbria, North West England. It comprise ...

and took a history degree at

Manchester University The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

. He was of Scottish descent on his father's side. His father Campbell Tait, a judge, hanged himself in 2004.

Death

Tait died after falling from the roof of the Harbourview Horizon apartment block in

Hung Hom Hung Hom (, ) is an area in the southeast of Kowloon Peninsula, Hong Kong. Including the areas of Whampoa, Tai Wan, Hok Yuen, Lo Lung Hang and No. 12 Hill are administratively part of the Kowloon City District, with a portion west of ...

, Hong Kong, on 12 December 2012. The coroner was unable to determine if the fall was suicide or an accident. The

Hong Kong national rugby union team Rugby union in Hong Kong is administered by Hong Kong Rugby Union, Hong Kong China Rugby since 1952, and successfully competes annually in the Asia Rugby Championship. The team competes as the Hong Kong China representative rugby union team. ...

wore black armbands during the 2012 Cup of Nations in his memory.

References

External links

Sale Sharks profileScotland profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tait, David 1987 births 2012 deaths 2012 suicides English rugby union players Rugby union number eights Sportspeople from Sale, Greater Manchester Rugby union players from Greater Manchester Sale Sharks players English people of Scottish descent People educated at Sedbergh School Alumni of the University of Manchester English expatriates in Hong Kong Suicides in Hong Kong Deaths from falls Male rugby sevens players Scotland international rugby sevens players