Richard Eric Gautrey Jeeps, (25 November 1931 – 8 October 2016), known as Dickie Jeeps, was an English

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 who played for

Northampton Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...

having started his career with Cambridge Rugby Club. He represented and captained both the

England national rugby union team The England national rugby union team represents the Rugby Football Union (RFU) in international rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France national rugby union team, France, Ireland national rugby union team, ...

and the British Lions in the 1950s and 1960s. He subsequently became a sports administrator and Chairman of the

Sports Council Sport England is a non-departmental public body under the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Its role is to build the foundations of a community sport system by working with national governing bodies of sport, and other funded partners, ...

. He was appointed

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in 1977.

Biography

Richard Eric Gautrey Jeeps was born on 25 November 1931 in Chesterton (England). He was educated at

Bedford Modern School Bedford Modern School (often called BMS or simply Modern) is a Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference independent school in Bedford, England. The school has its origins in Bedford Charity, The Harpur Trust, born from the financial endowme ...

. Jeeps played at scrum half 24 times for England including all four matches of the

Grand Slam Grand Slam or Grand slam may refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category terminology originating in contract bridge and other whist card games Athletics * Grand Slam Track, professional track and field league Auto racing * ...

season of 1957. Jeeps was selected to join the British Lions party to tour South Africa in 1955 and is one of that select group of players capped for the British Lions before being capped by his country. Jeeps felt that his selection for the Lions was due to playing an invitation match with

Cliff Morgan Clifford Isaac Morgan, (7 April 1930 – 29 August 2013) was a Welsh rugby union player who played for Cardiff RFC and earned 29 caps for Wales between 1951 and 1958. After his playing career ended, Morgan made a successful career in broadca ...

in Cornwall shortly before the Lions party was announced. "I think Cliff got me in the party because he liked my service." Despite being originally the third choice scrum half in the 1955 squad, he played in all four tests of the drawn series. He was also selected for the

1959 British Lions tour to Australia and New Zealand In 1959, the British Lions rugby union team toured Australia and New Zealand. The Lions won the two test matches against but lost the international series against the All Blacks by three matches to one. They also played two matches in Canada, ...

and the

1962 British Lions tour to South Africa In 1962 the British Lions rugby union team toured Southern and Eastern Africa. Overall the tourists played twenty-five matches, winning sixteen, losing five and drawing four. The Lions were unsuccessful in the test series against , losing by ...

, bringing his Lions test appearances to 13, a record at the time. Only

Willie John McBride William James McBride CBE, better known as Willie John McBride (born 6 June 1940), is a former rugby union footballer from Northern Ireland who played as a lock for Ireland and the British and Irish Lions. He made 63 appearances for Ireland, ...

has represented the Lions more times since. In 1959 Jeeps' ability to serve up decent possession from apparently any angle led New Zealanders to dub him "the India-rubber Man". They also rated him the most complete footballer of the Lions' backs, high praise indeed when the Lions party included

Bev Risman Augustus Beverley Walter Risman (23 November 1937 – 22 June 2023) was an English rugby union and rugby league player and rugby league coach. A dual-code international, he played rugby union for England and the British Lions, and rugby leag ...

, David Hewitt,

Tony O'Reilly Sir Anthony John Francis O'Reilly (7 May 1936 – 18 May 2024) was an Irish businessman and international rugby union player. He was known for his try scoring in rugby, his involvement in the Independent News & Media Group, which he led from ...

Peter Jackson Sir Peter Robert Jackson (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand filmmaker. He is best known as the director, writer, and producer of the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003) and the ''Hobbit'' trilogy (2012–2014), both of which ar ...

and

Ken Scotland Kenneth James Forbes Scotland (29 August 1936 – 7 January 2023) was a Scotland international rugby union player and a Scotland international cricket player. He played at full-back in rugby union.Bath, p157 Rugby Union career Amateur career ...

. In 1962 the South Africans also rated him amongst the best of the visiting backs, although this time he caught the eye as much for his astute marshalling of his pack as for skill as an instigator of flashing attacks. He captained the Lions in the final test. Jeeps played his first match for England in 1956 and his last in 1962. He captained England 13 times with a captaincy record of played 13, won five, drawn four, lost four. His twenty-four caps remained a record for an England scrum-half for twenty years, until Steve Smith surpassed it. In later life Jeeps was President of the

Rugby Football Union The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the Sports governing body, national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby ...

in 1976-77 and Chairman of the Sports Council for seven years. He died on 8 October 2016 at the age of 84.

References

External links

Dickie Jeeps on a panel discussing the Centenary of Twickenham StadiumThe British & Irish Lions – Dickie Jeeps Biography page
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jeeps, Dickie 1931 births 2016 deaths British & Irish Lions rugby union players from England Cambridge R.U.F.C. players England international rugby union players English rugby union players Northampton Saints players Rugby union scrum-halves People educated at Bedford Modern School Commanders of the Order of the British Empire English cricketers Cambridgeshire cricketers Rugby union players from Cambridge 20th-century English sportsmen