Peter Squires obituary: England rugby winger

Squires’s favourite memory in the white jersey was saving England from conceding a score by beating JJ Williams to a loose ball near the try-line. Given the Welsh winger’s noted swiftness, some Welsh fans were already celebrating a try until Squires won the race to scoop the ball up. England went on to secure a narrow 16-12 victory over what was then a crack Wales team at Twickenham in March 1974. “We were all pretty euphoric afterwards as they had some of the best players in the world in their team at the time,” he recalled.

Born in Ripon in 1951, Peter John Squires, universally known as “Squidgy”, was the eldest son of George Squires, a clerk, and his wife Ruby (née Bent). At Ripon Grammar School, he played cricket for the 1st XI and also represented Ripon and Harrogate. After the summer months he turned out as fly half and captained the school 1st XV, attracting increasing attention at Ripon and Harrogate rugby clubs. Having qualified as a teacher at St John’s College, York, he began his professional career at Harrogate Grammar, where he taught PE.

Squires first played cricket for Yorkshire Second XI in 1970. The following season he not only helped them to beat Somerset Second XI to claim the Minor Counties Championship, but he also made an appearance in the John Player League. A bouncer from Surrey’s fearsome fast bowler Robin Jackman greeted his County Championship debut against Surrey the following season.

In five seasons with the first XI he was never able to command a regular place. Making 49 first-class appearances, his 1,271 runs included a top score of 70 against Nottinghamshire in 1976, his final season. Coming in with his side in dire straits at 28-3, with Richard Lumb he put on 158 for the fourth wicket.

An excellent fielder in the covers as well as a dashing right-handed middle-order batsman, Squires had been viewed by many as one of Yorkshire’s brightest prospects. His misfortune was perhaps to play when Yorkshire cricket was at its lowest ebb on the field and racked by deep internal divisions off it.

As his county cricket career stalled, Squires’s life in rugby union started to flourish.

Having begun his senior rugby career in 1969 as a 5ft 9in, 11st 9lb fly half with Ripon, Squires then graduated to regular county rugby. Yorkshire’s counterattacking play which required ball players out wide meant he was transferred to the wing. Squires’s pace, fine pair of hands and elusive body swerve soon brought the fair-haired flyer to the attention of the England selectors. In February 1973 he won the first of his 29 England caps, then a record for a winger and only surpassed in 1984 by his fellow teacher Mike Slemen.

Squires gave an assured display on his debut as England beat France 14-6 in the Five Nations at Twickenham and won his next three caps in victories over Scotland, New Zealand and Australia. He notched the second of England’s three tries as they triumphed 16-10 at Eden Park, Auckland, in what was a first ever win on the All Blacks’ home turf.

The following year, in an attempt to save his cricket career, he had turned down an invitation to join the British and Irish Lions on their tour of South Africa. However, in 1977 and now free of full-time cricket, he was able to join the Lions on their three-month visit to Fiji and New Zealand. Playing in the first Test in Wellington, he incurred a hamstring injury that curtailed involvement.

Squires maintained that his best try was in a non-capped international against Argentina in 1978 when he skipped easily past several defenders on his way to the line. In 1979, in Tokyo against Japan, he scored a late try to spare England’s blushes by beating the hosts 21-19. Many felt that he still had plenty to offer England but his international career ended when he was one of five players to earn the selectors’ permanent displeasure in the wake of an excruciating 27-3 defeat at Cardiff Arms Park against Wales that year.

Squires — who is survived by his wife Gail and their daughters Abigail, Charlotte, Rebecca and Sarah — coached the Ripon team that competed against Rotherham at Ripon Racecourse in the BBC’s popular It’s a Knockout show. After teaching at Harrogate Grammar School until 1978, having rejected numerous offers to turn professional and play rugby league, he moved into sales and marketing for a number of breweries that included Theakston, Scottish & Newcastle, John Smith’s, Caledonian and Heineken. He later served as head of rugby and then director of sport at Sedbergh School.

The likeable amateur, who also made 28 appearances for the Barbarians, continued to play rugby into his forties because he loved the game.

Click here to read article