Nick Duncombe (21 January 1982 – 14 February 2003) 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 ...

footballer who played for Harlequins and

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 ...

. Earmarked as a promising youngster since his time in the England youth teams, Duncombe was the England senior team's youngest debutant scrum-half at the time of his debut and won two international caps before his death at age 21.

Biography

Duncombe attended the

Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe The Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe, is a selective boys' grammar school situated in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. As a state school, it does not charge fees for pupils to attend, but they must pass the 11 plus, an exam that some pr ...

, which was renowned for its rugby tradition. At school, he excelled in various sports including cricket and football and began playing for the England national youth teams and England Schoolboys. A neck injury he sustained during an England youth game in 2000 nearly ended his career but he recovered.

Career

Duncombe initially played for the

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century History of Germany, German woodcut depicting Saracens ''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to ...

' youth squads before joining Harlequins. He made his professional debut in 2002. On 2 February 2002

Clive Woodward Sir Clive Ronald Woodward (born 6 January 1956) is an English former rugby union player and coach (sport), coach. He was coach of the team from 1997 to 2004, managing them to victory in the 2003 Rugby World Cup. He also coached the 2005 Britis ...

gave Duncombe his England début as a half-time replacement for the injured scrum-half Kyran Bracken against Scotland at Murrayfield. Selection came after having played just 270 minutes of senior rugby for Harlequins' first XV – and just 12 days after his 20th birthday – making him England's youngest scrum half of the professional era. He earned his second cap in the next fixture against Ireland on 16 February 2002. Besides the 15-a-side version, Duncombe also represented

in sevens at the

2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Manchester, England, ...

Death

Duncombe contracted

meningitis Meningitis is acute or chronic inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, collectively called the meninges. The most common symptoms are fever, intense headache, vomiting and neck stiffness and occasion ...

while on what has erroneously been described as a warm-weather training trip to Spain with his club Harlequins. In reality, it was a short break, to

Lanzarote Lanzarote (, , ) is a Spanish island, the easternmost of the Canary Islands, off the north coast of Africa and from the Iberian Peninsula. Covering , Lanzarote is the fourth-largest of the islands in the archipelago. With 163,230 inhabi ...

, with his club colleague, Nathan Williams.

Dan Luger Daniel Darko Luger MBE (born 11 January 1975) is a former English rugby union international who was a member of the squad that won the 2003 Rugby World Cup. Rugby career Club career Dan Luger was born in Chiswick and is the son of a Croa ...

, another established England international, was also due to be on the trip with Duncombe, but was called into the England squad to play France at Twickenham. A statue of Duncombe is displayed at Harlequins Twickenham home,

The Stoop Twickenham Stoop Stadium (informally referred to as The Stoop) is a stadium located in south-west London, England, situated just across the road from Twickenham Stadium. The stadium is home to the Harlequins in Premiership Rugby and has a ...

. On the front of the statue, the plinth reads: Nick Duncombe, 1982–2003. Harlequins & England. 'Carpe Diem' (Latin for: 'Seize the Day').

References

External links

Tribute to Nick Duncombe

The Schools' Rugby Website, Player of the Tournamanet at the St Joseph's Festival

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1982 births 2003 deaths Deaths from meningitis England international rugby union players English rugby union players People educated at the Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe Rugby union scrum-halves Neurological disease deaths in Spain Infectious disease deaths in Spain Harlequin F.C. players {{England-rugbyunion-bio-1980s-stub