Robin Cowling
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Robin James Cowling (born ) is an English retired rugby union player. He won 8 caps for between 1977 and 1979, and played 216 games for Gloucester Rugby between 1967 and 1974 before playing 184 times for
Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its hom ...
between 1974 and his retirement in 1981.


Career

Cowling was born in Ipswich,
Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...
, but moved to the South West as a small baby. His mother was from Gloucester, his grandfather was a former captain of Gloucester Rugby, and his uncle was John A'Bear, who toured with the British Lions in 1936. Cowling made his Gloucester debut on October 21, 1967 as a hooker, against
Newport Newport most commonly refers to: *Newport, Wales *Newport, Rhode Island, US Newport or New Port may also refer to: Places Asia *Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay Europe Ireland *Newport, County Mayo, a town on the ...
. He quickly switched to his henceforth regular position of loosehead prop and was a regular in the side from December 1967. In 1972, Cowling started the inaugural RFU Knockout Cup Final where Gloucester beat Moseley, and the County Championship Final where Gloucestershire won their first title since 1937. In the 1972-73 season Cowling featured in a remarkable 50 first class games, playing 45 times for Gloucester plus representative matches for Gloucestershire in the County Championship and for the combined Western Counties in their tour game against New Zealand. Cowling moved to Market Harborough in 1974 to take a post as farm manager and joined
Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its hom ...
, making his Tigers debut on September 7,1974 against Bedford. He was reserve prop throughout the following season and went on to win eight England caps with Leicester between 1977 and 1979. He didn't play in the John Player Cup Final against Gloucester in 1978 due to a shoulder injury sustained playing for England, but started in Leicester's three successive Cup Final wins, against Moseley in
1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...
, London Irish in
1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...
and in his final game the 1981 Final against Gosforth. He also played for the Barbarians. Robin Cowling has been on the Exeter Chiefs coaching staff since 1997, apart from two years with Cornish Pirates. When
Don Rutherford Donald Rutherford (22 September 1937 – 12/13 November 2016) was an international rugby union player and administrator. He was the first ever Technical Director of the Rugby Football Union at Twickenham, becoming Director of Rugby where he s ...
was
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 ...
Technical Director, he asked Cowling to run a pilot academy scheme in the South West and he has been involved in academy rugby from the outset of the professional game. As team manager and talent scout, he has contributed substantially to the Exeter Chiefs’ current success.


References


External links


Exeter Chiefs Profile
1944 births Living people England international rugby union players English rugby union coaches English rugby union players Leicester Tigers players Gloucester Rugby players Rugby union props {{England-rugbyunion-bio-stub