Farewell to an RGS sporting hero

OUR community was saddened to hear of the death of a British Lions rugby legend and RGS past pupil.

Peter Squires, who represented England in rugby union and Yorkshire in cricket, died on January 21, aged 74.

Mr Squires was born in Ripon in 1951 and attended Ripon Grammar School, where he first started playing rugby and cricket.

He excelled in both disciplines at school, captaining the rugby team in 1968.

Mr Squires played for Ripon and Harrogate Rugby Club, and Manningham Mills and Harrogate Cricket Club.

By 1972, he was competing professionally for Yorkshire County Cricket Club.

In his 49 first-class matches across his four-year career, the opening batsman scored 1,271 runs, with a best score of 70. He took 14 first-class catches.

But the all-rounder was better known for his rugby exploits.

Alongside Harrogate and Ripon, Mr Squires also represented Yorkshire and England. He made 29 appearances for his country in the 1970s, scoring six tries.

He was part of the side that beat Australia 23-6 at Twickenham in 1976, and that became the first nation from the northern hemisphere to beat the All Blacks on home soil in a test match.

In 1977, the winger was selected for the British and Irish Lions Tour in New Zealand. He was one of only five Englishmen to travel.

Playing at a time when players weren’t paid, Mr Squires had to request permission from his employers at Harrogate Grammar School to take three-and-a-half months off work.

In an interview with the RGS alumni magazine in 2017, the international said that playing for the Lions was one of the things he was most proud of.

Having qualified as a teacher, he eventually worked in sales and marketing and advised current students to keep on top of their studies so that they would always have something to fall back on: “Work hard and play hard,” he said.

A hamstring injury sustained during the tour cut Mr Squires’s international career shorter than he would have hoped, and he retired in 1979.

But he continued to play both rugby and cricket locally, playing for Ripon RUFC into his 40s and league cricket until 2014.

Ripon Grammar School held a short commemoration for Mr Squires at 2.30pm prior to the under-14s rugby tournament vs Harrogate Grammar School and St John Fisher.

Ripon Rugby Club held a minute’s applause before kick off against Old Otliensians.