David William Egerton (19 October 1961 – 8 February 2021) was an English rugby union 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 1988 to 1990. At club level, Egerton played for Bath Rugby between 1985 and 1995. After retiring, Egerton worked as a coach for Bristol United and Bridgwater & Albion.

Early life

David Egerton was born on 19 October 1961 in

Pinner Pinner is a London suburb in the London borough of Harrow, Greater London, England, northwest of Charing Cross, close to the border with Hillingdon, historically in the county of Middlesex. The population was 31,130 in 2011. Originally a med ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

, and from 1973 to 1980 attended

Bishop Wordsworth's School Bishop Wordsworth's School is a Church of England boys' grammar school in Salisbury, Wiltshire for boys aged 11 to 18. The school is regularly amongst the top-performing schools in England, and in 2010 was the school with the best results in the ...

Rugby union career

Egerton primarily played as a number 8. Whilst at Loughborough University, he played for English Universities and England Students rugby teams. Egerton made 163 appearances for Bath Rugby between 1985 and 1995. He won five league titles, and five cup competitions with Bath, and helped them win the 1990

Pilkington Cup The Anglo-Welsh Cup (), was a cross-border rugby union knock-out cup competition that featured the 12 Premiership Rugby clubs and the four Welsh regions. It was a created as a replacement for the RFU Knockout Cup, which featured only English clubs ...

. He averaged one try every three games for Bath. He also played for the

Barbarians A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by some to be les ...

, making his debut for the club in the 1990 Lisbon Sevens tournament. Egerton made his international debut for

on 23 April 1988 at

Lansdowne Road Lansdowne Road Stadium ( ga, Bóthar Lansdún, ) was a stadium in Dublin owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) that was primarily used for rugby union and association football matches. The stadium was demolished in 2007 to make way for ...

against

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. Of the seven matches he played for the national side he was on the winning side on five occasions. He scored one international

try Try or TRY may refer to: Music Albums * ''Try!'', an album by the John Mayer Trio * ''Try'' (Bebo Norman album) (2014) Songs * "Try" (Blue Rodeo song) (1987) * "Try" (Colbie Caillat song) (2014) * "Try" (Nelly Furtado song) (2004) * " Try (Ju ...

, against Ireland in 1990. He was selected in the England squads for the

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...

and

1991 Rugby World Cup The 1991 Rugby World Cup was the second edition of the Rugby World Cup, and was jointly hosted by England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and France: at the time, the five European countries who participated in the Five Nations Championship. This was ...

s, but both times had to withdraw due to injury. He also played for the British and Irish Lions team which defeated France at Parc des Princes in October 1989. Egerton played his final match for England on 4 August 1990 at

José Amalfitani Stadium The José Amalfitani Stadium is a stadium located in the Liniers neighborhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina, near Liniers railway station. The venue is the home of the Argentine Primera División club Vélez Sarsfield and is also known as ''El Fort ...

against

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

Post-retirement

After retiring as a player, Egerton became head coach of Bridgwater & Albion. He scouted Richard Hill, who went to the same secondary school as Egerton had, and invited him to a Bath training session. Ahead of the 1997–98 season, Egerton joined Bristol United as a coach. In February 1998, Egerton became joint caretaker coach of Bristol, alongside Darryl Jones. The next month, he was appointed an assistant coach. He left the role during the 1998–99 season for personal reasons. Egerton later commentated for

BBC Radio Bristol BBC Radio Bristol is the BBC's local radio station serving Bristol, Bath and North & North East Somerset. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at Broadcasting House in Bristol. According to RAJAR, the stati ...

, and also worked in investment management in Hong Kong. Egerton returned to the United Kingdom in 2016, and lived in

Clifton, Bristol Clifton is both a suburb of Bristol, England, and the name of one of the city's thirty-five council wards. The Clifton ward also includes the areas of Cliftonwood and Hotwells. The eastern part of the suburb lies within the ward of Clifton D ...

Death

Egerton died on 8 February 2021 after being hospitalised with

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

during the COVID-19 pandemic in England.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Egerton, David 1961 births 2021 deaths Alumni of Loughborough University Barbarian F.C. players Bath Rugby players British & Irish Lions rugby union players from England Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in England England international rugby union players English rugby union players Loughborough Students RUFC players People educated at Bishop Wordsworth's School People from Pinner Rugby union players from the London Borough of Harrow Rugby union number eights 1987 Rugby World Cup players