Toby James Allchurch (born 1958 in

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

) is an English former

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 ...

footballer. Allchurch 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 ...

on the 1979 England rugby union tour of Japan, Fiji and Tonga. Allchurch matriculated at Hatfield College, Durham in 1977 to read for a degree in General Arts, but was promoted to the Honours Course in Politics and Sociology. He graduated with a gentleman's degree in 1980. According to

Alastair Hignell Alastair James Hignell (born 4 September 1955) is an English former rugby union international, first–class cricketer, and broadcaster. Education Hignell was born at Ely, Cambridgeshire and educated at Denstone College, an independent school ...

, in the aftermath of the first match against

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, Allchurch was involved in a bar brawl after being struck on the head by an ashtray thrown by a drunken Japanese fan. He was named to the bench for the second match against Japan and made his England debut as a

flanker Flanker may refer to: * Flanker (perfume), a newly created perfume sharing attributes of an existing one * Flanker (rugby union), a position in rugby union (not found in rugby league) * ''Su-27 Flanker'' (video game), a 1996 computer game modelin ...

against

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

in the final match of the tour, scoring one try. Allchurch moved on from Durham to read Land Economy at

Downing College, Cambridge Downing College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge and currently has around 650 students. Founded in 1800, it was the only college to be added to Cambridge University between 1596 and 1869, and is often described as the olde ...

, where he played for

Cambridge University R.U.F.C. The Cambridge University Rugby Union Football Club, sometimes abbreviated "CURUFC", is the rugby union club of the University of Cambridge. The team plays Oxford University RFC in the annual Varsity Match at Twickenham Stadium every December. ...

and later captained Rosslyn Park.

References

External links

* 1958 births English rugby union players Living people Cambridge University R.U.F.C. players Rosslyn Park F.C. players Alumni of Downing College, Cambridge Alumni of Hatfield College, Durham {{England-rugbyunion-bio-stub