Ronnie Dawson, who has died aged 92, captained the Ireland rugby union side in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and was skipper of the British & Irish Lions on their tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1959.
A hooker who won 27 caps with Ireland, he led the Lions to victory in the two Tests they played against Australia on that trip, and in one of the four in which they met the All Blacks.
Dawson’s total of six Tests in charge as captain is still a record for the Lions, although it was later equalled by Martin Johnson, and is likely to stand for years to come. In fact he would have had several more Tests as captain had he been available for the 1962 Lions tour, but in the amateur era his job as an architect prevented him from committing to that trip.
After captaining Ireland on 11 occasions Dawson retired from playing in 1964 and moved into coaching with Ireland, and then into administration as a member of the Irish Rugby Football Union’s executive committee, of which he was president in 1989-90.
Alfred Ronald Dawson was born on June 5 1932 in Dublin, where he was educated at St Andrew’s College before qualifying as an architect at the Dublin Institute of Technology. He began playing for the city’s Wanderers club in 1950 and remained there for 15 years while working as an in-house architect and premises manager for the Bank of Ireland.
In 1958 he was picked to play representative rugby for the provincial Leinster side as captain, and in the same year made his debut for Ireland in a celebrated 9-6 home win against Australia that included the only try he ever scored for his country.
He had only just been made captain of Ireland in early 1959 when the Lions call-up came, and he had no inkling that he might be expected to lead the forthcoming tour. After reading the first few lines of his Lions invitation letter he flung it into the air with a loud “Yippee” and rushed off to inform family and friends. It was only some time later, when he returned to read the missive in full, that he noticed the last few words said “and to be captain”.
Despite his unpreparedness, Dawson did a fine job as a thoughtful and articulate leader on the gruelling 33-match tour, which also included two matches in Canada. Home nations rugby was going through a dour period at the time, and there were few expectations of the Lions when they departed. But he got his squad playing attacking rugby, and in the two victorious Tests against Australia they scored seven tries, going on to register a further nine in the four Tests against New Zealand.
Although the 3-1 final result looked on paper to be easy enough for the home side, two of the defeats were exceptionally close, and the Lions’ 9-6 victory in the final Test at Eden Park in Auckland is still the only time they have come out on top there. When Dawson returned home it was to great acclaim.
Although he had to miss the next Lions tour he continued for Ireland, captaining the side on their tour to South Africa in 1961, which included an unexpected 24-8 win over the hosts, and led them against the All Blacks on their 1964 visit to the British Isles. He was also selected for the Barbarians on 22 occasions, making him one of the most capped of all Baa Baas, and he captained the team a number of times, notably when they beat the Springboks in 1961, South Africa’s only defeat on their 34-match European tour.
Once his playing days ended, Dawson took on a variety of influential roles, including assistant manager, selector and coach on the unsuccessful and controversial 1968 Lions tour to South Africa; as Ireland selector from 1968 to 1972; and as his country’s first coach (albeit part-time) from 1969 to 1972. He was also a member of the Five Nations committee from 1973-94, an Irish representative on the International Rugby Board from 1974-94 and a member of the organising committee for the inaugural rugby World Cup in 1987.
No-nonsense, uncomplicated and understated – as well as a rare teetotaller in the rugby world – Dawson brought to all his administrative and coaching roles a neat and organised way of doing things that achieved results wherever he was.
Elected to the IRFU committee in 1970 he served until 1994, when he retired from all his posts. In 2014 he was inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame.
Dawson’s wife, Wendy, predeceased him. He is survived by their three children.
Ronnie Dawson, born June 5 1932, died October 11 2024
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