Simon John Halliday (born 13 July 1960 in
Haverfordwest
Haverfordwest (, ; cy, Hwlffordd ) is the county town of Pembrokeshire, Wales, and the most populous urban area in Pembrokeshire with a population of 14,596 in 2011. It is also a community, being the second most populous community in the county, ...
,
Pembrokeshire
Pembrokeshire ( ; cy, Sir Benfro ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and the rest by sea. The count ...
,
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 ...
) is a former 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. He also played nine
first-class cricket
First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...
matches. He was educated at
Downside School
Downside School is a co-educational Catholic independent boarding and day school in the English public school tradition for pupils aged 11 to 18. It is located between Bath, Frome, Wells and Bruton, and is attached to Downside Abbey.
Originall ...
,
Somerset
( en, All The People of Somerset)
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, coordinates =
, region = South West England
, established_date = Ancient
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, lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset
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and
St Benet's Hall, Oxford
St Benet's Hall (known colloquially as Benet's) was a permanent private hall (PPH) of the University of Oxford, originally a Roman Catholic religious house of studies. It closed down in 2022. The principal building was located at the northern en ...
.
Cricket
Halliday's first-class cricket appearances were with
Oxford University
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
from 1980 to 1982 and in all he made 348 first-class runs at 29.00 but passed 50 only once in his 14 innings. This was when he scored 113 not out against
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
in 1982, with a bowling lineup consisting of English Test cricketers
Graham Dilley
Graham Roy Dilley (18 May 1959 – 5 October 2011) was an English international cricketer, whose main role was as a fast bowler. He played first-class cricket for Kent County Cricket Club and Worcestershire County Cricket Clubs, and appeared in ...
and
Bob Woolmer
Robert Andrew Woolmer (14 May 1948 – 18 March 2007) was an English cricket coach, cricketer, and a commentator. He played in 19 Test matches and six One Day Internationals for the England cricket team and later coached South Africa, Warwick ...
. He also played cricket for
Dorset
Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...
from 1981 to 1987, including 38
Minor Counties Championship
The NCCA 3 Day Championship (previously the Minor Counties Cricket Championship) is a season-long competition in England and Wales that is contested by the members of the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), the so-called national cou ...
matches and 3 one-day matches in the
National Westminster Bank Trophy.
Rugby Union
Halliday also played rugby union for Oxford University from 1979 to 1981, including 3
Varsity matches. He went on to play for
Bath Rugby Club
Bath Rugby is a professional rugby union club in Bath, Somerset, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby.
Founded in 1865 as Bath Football Club, since 1894 the club has played at the Recreation Ground in the ...
. His sporting career was interrupted by a serious leg injury when playing for Somerset against Middlesex in the
Rugby Union County Championship in 1983. He recovered to work his way into the
England national team and made his debut in the 1986 Five Nations. He soon formed what seemed initially to be a stable and lasting centre partnership with
Will Carling
William David Charles Carling (born 12 December 1965) is an English former rugby union player. He was England's youngest captain, aged 22, and won 72 caps from 1988 to 1996, captaining England 59 times. Under his captaincy, England won Five ...
, only to be dropped to the bench during 1989-90 thanks to the emergence of
Jeremy Guscott
Jeremy Clayton Guscott (born 7 July 1965) is a British former rugby union outside centre who played for Bath, England and the British and Irish Lions. He also appeared for England on the wing.
Guscott was born in Bath, Somerset, one of the t ...
as Carling's centre partner (since Carling, as captain, was guaranteed his own place in the side). England's selectors nevertheless attempted to fit Halliday into the side by playing him on the wing with Carling and Guscott at centre, but in the 1990 Five Nations campaign this move met with only mixed success in two matches - the victory over Wales followed by a defeat in the Grand Slam decider, against Scotland. He did not play in the 1991 Five Nations, but was however a part of England's
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 ...
campaign, initially in the squad as a utility-back squad member, playing a group match against USA: then playing in the Semi Final win over Scotland, and the Final which they lost to Australia. In these two matches he was once again played on the right wing, selected ahead of the actual specialist winger Nigel Heslop: the latter believed to be still somewhat fragile after taking a pounding in the brutal quarter-final against France, and the other winger in the squad (Chris Oti) being injury-prone. The move was regarded as enough of a success for Halliday to be retained on the wing as first choice for the next year, in the England side which won the
1992 Five Nations Championship
The 1992 Five Nations Championship was the 63rd series of the Five Nations Championship, an annual rugby union competition between the major Northern Hemisphere rugby union national teams. The tournament consisted of ten matches held between 18 ...
with a Grand Slam. He played in 23 internationals from 1986 to 1992, retiring after the 1992 grand slam: his two international tries came in the 1988 autumn victory over Australia (partnering Carling at centre, in the latter's first match as captain) and the 1992 Five Nations victory over Ireland (playing on the wing).
From 1981 to 1990, Halliday made a total of 170 appearances for
Bath
Bath may refer to:
* Bathing, immersion in a fluid
** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body
** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe
* Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities
Plac ...
, including five successful
Cup Finals. In 1990 he moved to
Harlequins before retiring in 1992 because of long-term injuries.
Author
Halliday published the book ''City Centre'' in 2013, a book about rugby. It won the 2014
British Sports Book Awards
The Sports Book Awards (previously National Sporting Club Book Awards then Telegraph Sports Book Awards) is a British literary award for sports writing. It was first awarded in 2003 as part of the National Sporting Club. Awards are presented in m ...
in the "Rugby" category.
References
External links
Cricinfo: Simon Halliday
{{DEFAULTSORT:Halliday, Simon
1960 births
Living people
Alumni of St Benet's Hall, Oxford
Bath Rugby players
Dorset cricketers
England international rugby union players
English cricketers
Harlequin F.C. players
Oxford University cricketers
People educated at Downside School
Rugby union players from Haverfordwest
Welsh rugby union players
Rugby union centres