John Elders (18 December 1930 – 3 May 2015) was an English rugby union player and coach. He played with
Leicester Tigers between 1953–1958, scoring the third most tries in the 1950s for his club (38).
Elders was also club captain for a number of seasons.
Elders coached the
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 ...
team between 1972–1974.
He guided England to their first ever away win against New Zealand, and also coached England through an unbeaten tour of South Africa.
Elders played one game for
Barbarian FC
The Barbarian Football Club, known as the Barbarians is a British-based invitational rugby union club. The Barbarians play in black and white hoops, though players wear socks from their own club strip. Membership is by invitation. As of 2011, p ...
in the late 1950s.
Elders was the sports master at the
Newcastle Royal Grammar School
(By Learning, You Will Lead)
, established =
, closed =
, type = Grammar SchoolIndependent day school
, religion =
, president =
, head_label = Headmaster
, head = Geoffrey Stanford
, r_head_label =
, r_head =
, chair_label =
, cha ...
between 1957–1982. Whilst teaching there he played and coached for
Northern FC and (Old)
Novocastrians. He joined
Old Novocastrians whilst a teacher at the
Newcastle Royal Grammar School
(By Learning, You Will Lead)
, established =
, closed =
, type = Grammar SchoolIndependent day school
, religion =
, president =
, head_label = Headmaster
, head = Geoffrey Stanford
, r_head_label =
, r_head =
, chair_label =
, cha ...
and was always an advocate for the club, helping bring many players to the club in the 1960s, 70s and 80s. Elders captained Old Novos from 1959–61.
Elders coached the
Downlands College
, motto_translation = Strong in Faith
, city = Toowoomba
, state = Queensland
, country = Australia
, coordinates =
, type = Private, secondar ...
First XV. The 1987 team went undefeated, including matches against Sydney's
King's,
Riverview and
St Joseph's colleges. The side included future Wallabies Brett Johnstone,
Brett Robinson,
Garrick Morgan,
Peter Ryan and
Tim Horan
Tim Horan AM (born 18 May 1970) is a former Australian rugby union footballer. He played for the Queensland Reds in the Super 12, and represented Australia. He was one of the best centres in the world throughout the 1990s due to his attacking ...
.
He died on 3 May 2015, aged 84, after a long illness.
References
1930 births
2015 deaths
English rugby union coaches
Rugby union centres
Leicester Tigers players
Barbarian F.C. players
England national rugby union team coaches
{{England-rugbyunion-bio-stub