Colin Patterson (born 3 March 1955) is a former international

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 ...

player. He toured

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 ...

in 1980 with the

British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

and at the time played club rugby for

Instonians Instonians is a sports club based in Belfast, Northern Ireland, that incorporates rugby union, men's and ladies' hockey and cricket sections. There is also a golf society that plays under the Instonians name. Instonians Rugby Football, Cricke ...

. His son Johnny captained the

Regent House Grammar School Regent House School is a coeducational controlled grammar school in Newtownards, County Down, Northern Ireland. It comprises two parts: the preparatory department, known as "the Prep", and the main school itself. It has over 1450 pupils from ...

side that reached the

Ulster Schools Cup The Ulster Schools' Challenge Cup is an annual competition involving schools affiliated to the Ulster Branch of the Irish Rugby Football Union. The Schools' Cup has the distinction of being the world's second-oldest rugby competition, having bee ...

final in 2008. Patterson studied law at Bristol and played for English Universities and British Universities. He rejoined Instonians on his return to Ireland and was selected for

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...

and capped by Ireland B in 1977 before winning his first full cap for Ireland against New Zealand in 1978. He won eleven senior caps and scored five tries for Ireland. His career came to a premature end when he suffered a serious knee injury playing against

Griqualand West Griqualand West is an area of central South Africa with an area of 40,000 km2 that now forms part of the Northern Cape Province. It was inhabited by the Griqua people – a semi-nomadic, Afrikaans-speaking nation of mixed-race origin, wh ...

during 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 ...

, after having been scrum-half in the first three internationals against

Notes

1955 births Living people Irish rugby union players Ireland international rugby union players British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Ireland Instonians rugby union players Ulster Rugby players Rugby union scrum-halves Rugby union players from Belfast {{Ireland-rugbyunion-bio-stub