Peter George Derek Robbins (21 September 193325 March 1987), also known as P. G. D. Robbins, was an international

rugby union player 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 ...

who earned 19 caps playing for

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 ...

Life

Robbins was born in Coventry on 21 September 1933, with his twin David, the eighth and ninth children of twelve by Charles and Jessamine Robbins.Michael Blair "Life at One Hundred miles an hour – A biography of P.G.D. Robbins (G & A Publishing, Ludlow) He was educated at

Bishop Vesey's Grammar School Bishop Vesey's Grammar School (BVGS) is a selective state grammar school with academy status in Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, England. Founded in 1527, it is one of the oldest schools in Britain, the oldest state school in the West Midlan ...

and

St Edmund Hall, Oxford St Edmund Hall (also known as The Hall and Teddy Hall) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. The college claims to be "the oldest surviving academic society to house and educate undergraduates in any university" and was the las ...

,Moseley Rugby Club
Internationals with

National Service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...

in the

Royal Air Force Regiment The Royal Air Force Regiment (RAF Regiment) is part of the Royal Air Force and functions as a specialist corps. Founded by Royal Warrant in 1942, the Corps carries-out security tasks relating to the protection of assets and personnel dedicated ...

in between. After university, he took a position as a French and Latin teacher at

King Edward's School, Birmingham King Edward's School (KES) is an independent school (UK), independent day school for boys in the British Public school (UK), public school tradition, located in Edgbaston, Birmingham. Founded by Edward VI of England, King Edward VI in 1552, it ...

from 1958Chronicle
King Edward's School, Birmingham) March 1959 pp 2-3 to 1968, before going into commerce.Chronicle
King Edward's School, Birmingham) May 1968 page 10 After several employments he eventually set up his own company, West Midlands Cleaning Services in 1979. He was also a public speaker and a writer, being Rugby correspondent for the

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

. He married Eileen Lemon, whom he met while she was still at school, in September 1958 and they had two children, Richard and Helen. Along with many other rugby players he was a keen golfer, and it became his main sporting activity after he finished playing rugby. He liked jazz music and played the

double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

. He died 25 March 1987 in the Priory Hospital,

Edgbaston Edgbaston () is a suburb of Birmingham, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It lies immediately south-west of Birmingham city centre, and was historically in Warwickshire. The Ward (electoral subdivision), wards of Edgbaston and Nort ...

, Birmingham of a

cerebral haemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as hemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain (i.e. the parenchyma), into its ventricles, or into both. An ICH is a type of bleeding within the skull and one kind of stro ...

.ESPN Scrum
England Players and Officials: Peter Robbins On 2 March 1988 a match between

Penguin International RFC The Penguin International Rugby Football Club, usually called the Penguins, is an invitational rugby union team based in United Kingdom, Britain but with international players. It was founded in 1959 and has played in 71 countries, claiming to ...

and

Oxford University RFC The Oxford University Rugby Football Club (Oxford University RFC or OURFC) is the rugby union club of the University of Oxford. The club contests The Varsity Match every year against Cambridge University at Twickenham. History Men's team ...

was played as the P G D Robbins memorial match.

Sporting career

Robbins played the position then known as wing forward in the back row, firstly for

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 ...

and Oxford University where he earned 4 “

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

” and was captain of his final match. He played in the combined Oxford and Cambridge team's international tours in 1955,

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...

and 1957. It was while still a student that he played for England the first time on 21 January 1956, against Wales. He went on to play for England a total of 19 times, the last being 17 March 1962 against Scotland. After leaving university he joined

Moseley Rugby Football Club Birmingham Moseley Rugby Club is an English rugby union club, based in Birmingham, that compete in the third tier of English rugby. They were historically the premier rugby club in Birmingham, reaching the final of the John Player Cup three ti ...

, which he captained, then later went back to Coventry, which he also captained. He also played 12 games for the

Barbarians A barbarian is a person or tribe of people that is perceived to be primitive, savage and warlike. Many cultures have referred to other cultures as barbarians, sometimes out of misunderstanding and sometimes out of prejudice. A "barbarian" may ...

rugby team, including captain in 1959,Barbarian FC Archive
P G D Robbins and was player-manager for the 1963 Oxford and Cambridge rugby tour of

East East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that ea ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. He was selected for the British Lions tour of

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

in 1959, but broke his leg in a Barbarians match, and thus never had this sporting honour.

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...

1 April 1959 p 23 "Rugby Lion Breaks Leg" On the field, he was known for his speed, and according to fellow team player M. J. K. Smith "I never saw him commit a foul in his life." 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 ...

barred Robbins from any activity associated with the national amateur game (playing, coaching etc.), when he started contributing to the Financial Times on rugby matters, counting him as a professional.

Quotation

“What is rugby? It is a strong drink to be sipped slowly and in the company of true friends”John Griffiths (2007) ‘What is a Loose Head? – the mysteries of rugby explained’ (Robson Books) page 111

References

External links

Getty Images
1963 photograph {{DEFAULTSORT:Robbins, Peter 1933 births 1987 deaths English rugby union players England international rugby union players Birmingham Moseley Rugby players Rugby union flankers Barbarian F.C. players Rugby union players from Coventry People educated at Bishop Vesey's Grammar School Alumni of St Edmund Hall, Oxford Oxford University RFC players Coventry R.F.C. players Warwickshire County RFU players 20th-century English sportsmen

Life

Sporting career

Quotation

References

Further reading

External links