Andrew George Ripley OBE (1 December 1947 – 17 June 2010) was an English

rugby union 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 ...

international, who represented

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 b ...

from 1972 to 1976, and the

Lions The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus '' Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphic; adult ...

on their unbeaten 1974 tour of South Africa.

Early life

Ripley was born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, and educated at the

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and 26 schools of study. The annual income of the institution f ...

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

(M.Sc.) and

Hughes Hall, Cambridge Hughes Hall is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England. It is the oldest of the University of Cambridge's postgraduate colleges. The college also admits undergraduates, though undergraduates admitted by the college must b ...

(MPhil). His lifelong career was as a chartered accountant.

Rugby career

Ripley played for the Rosslyn Park club for his entire career. He made his international debut on 15 January 1972 at

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 boroug ...

in the

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

match. Of the 24 matches he played for his national side, he was on the winning side on eight occasions. Between June 1972 and November 1973

defeated the three major Southern Hemisphere countries, Ripley playing in all three games. On 3 June 1972

beat

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

18–9 at Ellis Park,

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

. On 15 September 1973 they defeated the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987 ...

16–10 at Eden Park,

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, and on 17 November the same year they beat

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

20–3 at Twickenham, Ripley scoring a try. Ripley was a member of the unbeaten 1974 Lions, although the test starting role was taken by

Mervyn Davies Thomas Mervyn Davies (9 December 1946 – 15 March 2012), often known as "Merv the Swerve", was a Welsh rugby union player who won 38 caps for Wales as a No. 8. Early life Davies was born in Swansea, where he attended Penlan County School ...

. He played his final match for England on 21 February 1976, 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 the ...

vs England match. He also played in a Presidents XV. Ripley was the captain of the Barbarians team that competed in the 1981

Hong Kong Sevens The Hong Kong Sevens () is an rugby sevens tournament held annually in Hong Kong on a weekend in late March or early April. Considered the premier tournament on the World Rugby Sevens Series competition, the Hong Kong Sevens is currently the s ...

, a team that included

Les Cusworth Les Cusworth (born 31 July 1954) is a former English rugby union footballer and current Argentine Director of Rugby. Education He was educated at Normanton Grammar School and the West Midlands College of Education, a teacher training college ( ...

and Peter Wheeler. The Barbarians won the Cup Final 12-10 against Australia and in doing so became the first team from the Northern Hemisphere to win the Hong Kong Sevens.

Superstars

Ripley took part in several Superstars competitions between 1981 and 1983, winning his British Superstars heat and International Superstars in 1981. He also represented the UK in the 1981 World Championship and the 1982 International. A tremendously strong runner, Ripley dominated the 800 metres contest, winning this race in the 1981 World final and in most Superstars events he entered. Tall and muscular, Ripley had enormous stamina and also performed well in the

canoeing Canoeing is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle. Common meanings of the term are limited to when the canoeing is the central purpose of the activity. Broader meanings include when it is combined with other acti ...

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically ...

events; again he won this event in the World Final, setting a new record time in the process. As was the case with other British Superstars of the era, Ripley could not attempt to win the events by picking up points in every event – he had to use the popular tactic of scoring as highly in his 'banker' events as possible, and holding on in the others. Unfortunately for Ripley his size proved to be a disadvantage in the gymnasium tests – he was too big to contemplate parallel bar dips or squat thrusts and while he could lift prodigious amounts in the weightlifting, his heavy bodyweight meant that smaller athletes would always win using the coefficient system. He could also have used a little luck – a puncture right at the start of the 1981 British Final cycling race cost him eight valuable points, and any chance of the title. Instead it went to

Keith Fielding Keith John Fielding (born 8 July 1949) is an English dual-code international rugby union, and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s as a winger. He played representative level rugby union for England, a ...

, his former England Rugby Sevens teammate. Undoubtedly Ripley's finest hour in Superstars came in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

in the 1981 International, when he gained revenge on Fielding and won the prestigious title. He would defend his title a year later in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

, but could not defeat the best European Superstar of all-time, Brian Hooper, finishing second. With the contest as much about camaraderie as athletic prowess for many of the competitors however, Ripley's outgoing, larger-than-life persona fitted in very well. His final appearance in Superstars came in the 1983 UK Past Masters event, where he again finished runner-up, this time to another former champion

David Hemery David Peter Hemery, (born 18 July 1944) is a British former track and field athlete, best known as the winner of the 400 metres hurdles at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. Early life Hemery was born in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, but ...

Superstars record

Honours

Ripley was awarded the OBE in the 2010 Birthday Honours. In 1998, he became an indoor rowing world record holder in the 50–54 yrs age-group on the

Concept2 Concept2, Inc. is an American manufacturer of rowing equipment and exercise machines that is based in Morrisville, Vermont. It is best known for its air resistance indoor rowing machines (known as "ergometers" or "ergs"), which are considered ...

ergometer (2000m in 6:07.7). Ripley won the 'Best Rugby Book' category of the 2008 British Sports Book Awards for his memoir ''Ripley's World''.

Death

Ripley was diagnosed with

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is cancer of the prostate. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancerous tumor worldwide and is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related mortality among men. The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system that sur ...

in 2005, and died on 17 June 2010.Tributes paid to former England rugby star Andy Ripley
Mirror, 18 June 2010

References

External links

Telegraph, 17 June 2010
Former England rugby union star Andy Ripley dies
BBC Sport, 17 June 2010 {{DEFAULTSORT:Ripley, Andy 1947 births 2010 deaths Alumni of Hughes Hall, Cambridge Alumni of the London School of Economics Alumni of the University of East Anglia British & Irish Lions rugby union players from England Deaths from cancer in England Deaths from prostate cancer England international rugby sevens players England international rugby union players English rugby union players Middlesex County RFU players Officers of the Order of the British Empire Rosslyn Park F.C. players Rugby union number eights Rugby union players from Liverpool