R.I.P. A R Dawson

It is with deep sadness that we learned of the passing of A R Dawson.

Ronnie was Captain of the club in 1955/56 and President in 1991/92.

He had an illustrious rugby career both on and off the pitch.

First capped for Ireland in 1958, he scored a try on his debut against Australia and went on to be capped 27 times between 1958 and 1965. In addition, he played 28 times for Leinster and represented the Barbarians on 22 occasions.

In 1959 he captained the British & Irish Lions tour to Australia, New Zealand and Canada playing in a record 6 Tests, subsequently only equalled once by Martin Johnson.

He was an Irish and Lions selector and became the first Irish Coach in 1969. Prior to that he was the assistant manager/coach on the 1968 Lions captained by Tom Kiernan.

An exceptional administrator he was elected to the IRFU Committee in 1970, served as Leinster President in 1972//73 and was elected President of the IRFU in the 1989/90 season. Subsequent to his retirement from the IRFU Committee in 1994 he served as a Trustee of the IRFU until 2022. In addition, he was the IRFU representative on the Five Nations Committee from 1973 to 1994 serving a term as Chairman and the IRB (World Rugby) from 1974 to 1994 being Chairman in 1983.

Ronnie was the recipient of many awards during his long career chief among them the Vernon Pugh Award for Distinguished Service in 2004 and he was inducted into the IRB Hall of Fame in 2013.

A regular at Wanderers functions and matches over so many years he will be sadly missed by all our members.

We extend our deepest sympathies to his daughters Sandra and Jackie, his son Nigel and his wider family.