Maurice John Colclough (2 September 1953 – 27 January 2006)
/ref> was an international

rugby union player Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

. He was selected for the

1980 British Lions tour to South Africa In 1980 the British and Irish Lions rugby union team toured South Africa (including one game in Windhoek, South West Africa, the future Namibia). The tour was not a success for the Lions, as they lost the first three tests before salvaging some ...

and the

1983 British Lions tour to New Zealand In 1983 the British and Irish Lions toured New Zealand for the first time since 1977. The Lions went down to a 4–0 whitewash for only the second time in history – the previous was also inflicted by the All Blacks on the 1966 Lions. Overall ...

, playing in all four internationals each tour. He was a member of the England team that won the Grand Slam in 1980. At the time he played club rugby for

Angoulême Angoulême (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Engoulaeme''; oc, Engoleime) is a commune, the prefecture of the Charente department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of southwestern France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Angoumoisins'' o ...

; he also played for

Wasps RFC Wasps Rugby Football Club is a professional rugby union team. They last played in Premiership Rugby, the top division of English rugby until being suspended on 12 October 2022. On 17 October 2022 the club entered administration, resulting in ...

and

Swansea RFC Swansea Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union team which plays in the Welsh Premiership. The club play at St Helen's Rugby and Cricket Ground in Swansea and are also known as ''The Whites,'' in reference to their home kit colours. History ...

Early life

Maurice Colclough was born on 2 September 1953 in Oxford. He attended the

Duke of York's Royal Military School The Duke of York's Royal Military School, more commonly called the Duke of York's, is a co-educational academy (for students aged 11 to 18) with military traditions in Guston, Kent. Since becoming an academy in 2010, the school is now sponsor ...

and was its 1st XV Rugby captain in 1971, then England Schools Senior Shot Put champion in 1972. He is regarded as one of the most famous

alumni Alumni (singular: alumnus (masculine) or alumna (feminine)) are former students of a school, college, or university who have either attended or graduated in some fashion from the institution. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for grou ...

of the school. He later attended the

University of Liverpool , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

and also went on to play for

Liverpool St Helens Liverpool St Helens Football Club is an English rugby union team formed from the merger of Liverpool Football Club and St. Helens RUFC. The institution is not to be confused with either Liverpool F.C. (playing association football) or St. Hele ...

Rugby union career

Having played for Liverpool RFC, Colclough went on to become one of the first Englishmen to play in France; he ended up captaining

, and also later played for

and

. He made his international debut on 4 March 1978 at

Murrayfield Murrayfield is an affluent area to the west of Edinburgh city centre in Scotland. It is to the east of Corstorphine and north of Balgreen and Roseburn. The A8 road runs east–west through the south of the area. Murrayfield is often con ...

in the

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

match, and his final match for England on 15 March 1986 at Parc des Princes in the

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

versus England match. Of the 33 matches he played for England, he was on the winning side on 17 occasions. Colclough was a member of the England team that won the Grand Slam in 1980. He was selected for the

and the

, playing in all four internationals each tour. In 1983, he scored a try for England against

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the borou ...

. He also played for a

World XV A World XV is a rugby union team organised on an unofficial, ''ad hoc'' basis and typically composed of invited players from various countries. Several World XVs have been arranged by various bodies, often to take part in celebration and testimoni ...

on 9 August 1980 against in Buenos Aires, losing 36–22.Player list for World XV
/ref>

Later life

Colclough retired from rugby in 1986. After a long battle against a brain tumour, he died on 27 January 2006.

References

The Independent Online obituary by Chris Hewett, 28 January 2006
{{DEFAULTSORT:Colclough, Maurice 1953 births 2006 deaths Alumni of the University of Liverpool British & Irish Lions rugby union players from England England international rugby union players English rugby union players People educated at the Duke of York's Royal Military School Rugby union locks Rugby union players from Oxford Swansea RFC players Wasps RFC players Liverpool St Helens F.C. players