William Marcus Henderson Rose (born 12 January 1957) is a former

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby union: 15 players per side *** American flag rugby *** Beach rugby *** Mini rugby *** Rugby sevens, 7 players per side *** Rugby tens, 10 players per side *** Snow rugby *** Tou ...

union international full back who gained ten caps for England between 1981 and 1987.

Career

Rose made his debut in senior rugby while still at

Loughborough Grammar School Loughborough Grammar School is a 10–18 Private schools in the United Kingdom, private boys' school in the town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England, founded in 1495 with money left in the will of Thomas Burton (merchant), Thomas Burton. To ...

, his first appearance for

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its home ...

came on 20 December 1975 against

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

when he replaced club captain Robin Money who was injured, Rose played 7 times for Leicester in his first season scoring 70 points. He played the first 9 games of the next season before university began, and similarly played the first three games of the 1977/78 season, scoring five tries in what were his final matches for the club. Rose was selected by

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

for

The Varsity Match The Varsity Match is an annual rugby union fixture played between the universities of Oxford and Cambridge in England. The event began in 1872 with the first men's match, with interruptions only for the two World Wars and the COVID-19 pandemic ...

in 1979, 1980, and 1981. Rose made his debut on 7 March 1981 against 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 ...

, Rose scored a try and a conversion in a 10–6 win, but was unable to take up an offer of a place on England's 1981 England rugby union tour of Argentina as he could not defer his final university exams. Later in March that year Rose joined

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

, where he stayed until October 1983. On 4 April 1987 Rose scored 17 points as England beat to deny them a triple crown in the

1987 Five Nations Championship The 1987 Five Nations Championship was the fifty-eighth series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the ninety-third series of the northern hemisphere rug ...

. Rose provided

colour commentary A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The person may also be referred to as a summariser (outside North America) ...

on the

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

broadcast of the 1987 Rugby World Cup Final.

References

External links

Marcus Rose
Sporting heroes 1957 births Living people English rugby union players Harlequin F.C. players Leicester Tigers players Coventry R.F.C. players Cambridge University R.U.F.C. players People educated at Loughborough Grammar School England international rugby union players Alumni of Hatfield College, Durham Alumni of Magdalene College, Cambridge Durham University RFC players Rugby union players from Loughborough Rugby union fullbacks 1987 Rugby World Cup players 20th-century English sportsmen {{England-rugbyunion-bio-1950s-stub