Richard Harding (rugby player)

Richard Harding
Rugby union career
Full name	Richard Mark Harding
Date of birth	(1953-08-29) 29 August 1953
Place of birth	Bristol
School	Millfield School
University	Cambridge University
Occupation(s)	Estate Agent and Chartered Surveyor (FRICS)^[1]
Playing career
Position	Scrum-Half
Professional / senior clubs
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
	Cambridge University RUFC Bristol RFC
National team(s)
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
1985-1988	England	12	(4) (1 Try)

Richard Harding is a former rugby union international who played for England and on his last test captained them. He also played club rugby for his home city of Bristol and was part of Bristol RFC's cup winning side of 1983. After his sporting career he has concentrated on his profession as an estate agent and chartered surveyor.

Early life

Richard Mark Harding was born on 29 August 1953 in Bristol. He attended Millfield School from 1968 to 1971 where he became head of house at Shapwick Manor, his nickname was "Gilbert".^[2] and went on to study Land Economy at Cambridge University.

Rugby career

Richard Harding played rugby union at school and whilst at Cambridge University earned a Blue. He went on to play for Bristol RFC and was a stalwart of the team during the 1980s where he was also known by the nickname "Corky". He was particularly known for his extremely long pass which was used to great effect by Bristol. Harding would pass from a scrum straight to the full back which was intended to leave the opposing fullback flat-footed, allowing a two on one with the opposing wing. Whilst at Bristol he was part of the side who won the 1982–83 John Player Cup Final at Twickenham^[3]

Harding's first cap for England came on Saturday, 5 January 1985 when England played Romania at Twickenham. The match was won by England 22-15. After that match, the position of scrum-half was contested by Harding, Richard Hill and Nigel Melville. Harding gained two more caps in 1985 against France and Scotland at Twickenham both in the Five Nations.^[4] In the France game Harding is remembered for his tackle on Patrick Esteve when he knocked the ball out of his hands over the try line. In 1986 he was not capped but returned to the team in 1987 when he was picked to replace the dropped Richard Hill following disciplinary action against the latter following the 1984 England-Wales match in Cardiff on 7 March. Harding played in the final Five Nations match against Scotland and found himself as first choice for the first Rugby World Cup in 1987. He played three of England's four games, (being rested against the USA) but was replaced in the 1988 Five Nations by Melville. He came on as a substitute in the Ireland game, and was picked for the end of season game against Ireland, which was played to celebrate the centenary of Dublin.^[4] The 1988 tour of Australia and Fiji saw two scrum-halves included, and Harding was one of them. Harding played in both Australian tests which both ended in defeat. The final test of the tour was to be the first ever test against Fiji.^[4] Harding was honoured by being selected as the captain, and England were victorious, 25-10. Harding was the fourth player from Bristol RFC to have been made captain of England.^[5]

England Games

1985 Friendly v Romania (Twickenham)

1985 Five Nations Championship v France (Twickenham) v Scotland (Twickenham)

1987 Five Nations Championship v Scotland (Twickenham)

1987 World Cup

v Australia (Sydney) v Japan (Sydney) v Wales (Brisbane)

1988 Five Nations Championship

v Ireland(R) (Twickenham)

1988 Millennium Match

v Ireland (Dublin)

1988 Tour Australia & Fiji

v Australia (Brisbane) v Australia (Sydney) v Fiji (c) (Suva)

Outside Rugby

Harding's background in Land Economy led him to become a Chartered Surveyor and he opened up Richard Harding Estate Agents. This firm operates from a high profile office in Clifton, Bristol and specialises in the sale of residential property. It was at one point sold to Humberts for a maximum total consideration of £2,543,000 of which £1.43million was paid in cash and £600,000 in Humberts shares with the balance representing deferred consideration and acquisition costs. However, was bought back by Harding in 2008 just nine months after selling it for £1.06 million,of which £60,000 pounds was paid in cash and the balance representing the cancellation of the outstanding deferred amount of £1.0 million.^[6]

Personal life

Richard Harding has a wife, Angela, who partners him in his business and together they have two children.

References

↑ Richard Harding
↑ Distinguished Old Millfieldians
↑ Jones, Stephen (1990). Rothmans Rugby Yearbook. Rothmans Publications Ltd. ISBN 0-356-19162-1.
1 2 3 Steve Lewis, One Among Equals, page 81, (London:Vertical Editions), 2008
↑ The other three captains hailing from Bristol RFC being Leonard Corbett, Sam Tucker and John Pullin
↑ Rugby star is back in business, Bristol Evening Post, 10/06/2008

Sporting positions
Preceded by John Orwin	English National Rugby Union Captain Jun 1988	Succeeded by Will Carling

England squad – 1987 Rugby World Cup

Forwards	Bainbridge Chilcott Dawe Dooley D. Egerton Hall Moore Pearce Probyn Redman Rees Rendall Richards Winterbottom

Backs	Andrew Bailey Clough Harding Harrison (c.) Hill Rose Salmon Simms R. Underwood Webb Williams

Coach	Green

English national rugby union team captains

To 1900	1871–1873: Frederick Stokes 1874: Alfred St. George Hamersley 1875: Henry Arnold Lawrence 1875–1876: Francis Luscombe 1877–Mar 1878: Edward Kewley Mar 1878: Murray Wyatt Marshall 1879: Frank Reginald Adams 1880–1881: Lennard Stokes Feb 1882: Charles Gurdon Mar 1882: A. N. Hornby Dec 1882–1885: Edward Temple Gurdon Jan–Feb 1886: Charles John Bruce Marriott Mar 1886: Edward Temple Gurdon 1887: Alan Rotherham 1889: Fred Bonsor Feb 1890: Andrew Stoddart Mar 1890: John Lawrence Hickson Mar 1890: Andrew Stoddart 1891–Jan 1892: Frederic Alderson Feb 1892: Sammy Woods Mar 1892: Frederic Alderson Jan 1893: Andrew Stoddart Feb 1893: Sammy Woods Mar 1893: Andrew Stoddart Jan–Feb 1894: Richard Lockwood Mar 1894: Ernest Taylor 1895: Sammy Woods 1896: Ernest Taylor Mar 1896: Frank Mitchell 1897: Ernest Taylor 1898: J. F. Byrne 1899: Arthur Rotherham

To the First World War	Jan 1900: Richard Cattell 1900: John Daniell Jan 1901: John Taylor Feb–Mar 1901: William Bunting Jan 1902: Harry Alexander Feb–Mar 1902: John Daniell Jan–Feb 1903: Bernard Oughtred Mar 1903: Toggie Kendall Jan 1904: Frank Moxon Stout Feb–Mar 1904: John Daniell Jan–Mar 1905: Frank Moxon Stout Dec 1905 - Dec 1906: Vincent Cartwright Jan 1907: Basil Alexander Hill Feb 1907: John Green Mar 1907: Ernest Roberts Jan 1908: Thomas Kelly Jan 1908: John Birkett Feb 1908: Curly Hammond Mar 1908: Lancelot Slocock Jan 1909: George Lyon Jan–Mar 1909: Robert Dibble Jan–Feb 1910: Adrian Stoop Mar 1910: Edgar Mobbs Mar 1910-Feb 1911: John Birkett Mar 1911: Anthony Henniker-Gotley Jan–Mar 1912: Robert Dibble Apr 1912–Mar 1913: Norman Wodehouse 1914: Ronald Poulton

To the Second World War	1920: J. E. Greenwood 1921: Dave Davies Jan 1922: Bruno Brown Feb 1922–1923: Dave Davies 1924–1926: Wavell Wakefield 1927: Leonard Corbett 1928–Feb 1929: Ronald Cove-Smith Mar 1929–Feb 1930: Joe Periton Feb 1930–Jan 1931: Sam Tucker Feb 1931: Peter Howard Mar 1931–Jan 1933: Carl Aarvold Feb–Mar 1933: Tony Novis 1934: Bernard Gadney Jan–Feb 1935: Douglas Kendrew Mar 1935–Mar 1936: Bernard Gadney 1937: Tuppy Owen-Smith Jan–Feb 1938: Peter Cranmer Mar 1938–Mar 1939: Henry Toft

To the Professional Era	Jan–Feb 1947: Joe Mycock Mar–Apr 1947: Jack Heaton Jan 1948: Edward Scott Jan 1948: Tommy Kemp Feb–Mar 1948: Edward Scott Mar 1948: Bob Weighill Jan–Feb 1949: Nim Hall Feb 1949-Mar 1950: Ivor Preece Jan 1951: Vic Roberts Feb–Mar 1951: John Kendall-Carpenter Jan 1952-Mar 1953: Nim Hall 1954: Bob Stirling Jan–Feb 1955: Nim Hall Feb–Mar 1955: Peter Dalton Young Jan 1956–Mar 1958: Eric Evans 1959: Jeffrey Butterfield 1960–1962: Dickie Jeeps Jan–Mar 1963: Richard Sharp May–Jun 1963: Mike Weston Jan–Feb 1964: John Willcox Feb–Mar 1964: Ron Jacobs 1965: David Perry 1966: Budge Rogers Jan 1967: Richard Sharp Feb–Nov 1967: Philip Judd Jan–Feb 1968: Colin McFadyean Feb–Mar 1968: Mike Weston Feb 1969: Dick Greenwood Feb–Apr 1969: Budge Rogers Dec 1969-Mar 1970: Bob Hiller Apr 1970: Bob Taylor Jan 1971: Tony Bucknall Feb 1971: John Spencer Feb 1971: Bob Hiller Mar–Apr 1971: John Spencer Jan–Feb 1972: Bob Hiller Feb–Mar 1972: Peter Dixon Jun 1972–Mar 1974: John Pullin Jan–Feb 1975: Fran Cotton Mar–May 1975: Tony Neary May 1975: John Pullin Jan–Mar 1976: Tony Neary 1977: Roger Uttley 1978: Bill Beaumont Feb 1979: Roger Uttley Feb 1979–Jan 1982: Bill Beaumont Feb 1982–Feb 1983: Steve Smith Mar 1983: John Scott Nov 1983–Mar 1984: Peter Wheeler Jun 1984: John Scott Nov 1984: Nigel Melville 1985: Paul Dodge 1986: Nigel Melville Feb–Mar 1987: Richard Hill Apr 1987–Feb 1988: Mike Harrison Mar 1988: Nigel Melville Apr–Jun 1988: John Orwin Jun 1988: Richard Harding Nov 1988-Mar 1989: Will Carling May 1989: Rob Andrew Nov 1989–May 1995: Will Carling May 1995: Rob Andrew Jun 1995: Will Carling

To the Present Day	Nov 1995-Mar 1996: Will Carling Nov 1996: Phil de Glanville Dec 1996: Jason Leonard Feb–Jul 1997: Phil de Glanville Nov 1997–Apr 1998: Lawrence Dallaglio Jun 1998: Tony Diprose Jun–Jul 1998: Matt Dawson Nov 1998: Martin Johnson Nov 1998–Apr 1999: Lawrence Dallaglio Jun–Oct 1999: Martin Johnson Feb–Apr 2000: Matt Dawson Jun 2000–Apr 2001: Martin Johnson Jun 2001: Kyran Bracken Oct 2001: Matt Dawson Nov 2001: Neil Back Nov 2001–Mar 2002: Martin Johnson Mar–Apr 2002: Neil Back Jun 2002: Phil Vickery Nov 2002–Feb 2003: Martin Johnson Mar 2003: Jonny Wilkinson Mar–Jun 2003: Martin Johnson Aug 2003: Jason Leonard Aug 2003: Dorian West Sep–Oct 2003: Martin Johnson Nov 2003: Phil Vickery Nov 2003: Martin Johnson Feb–Jun 2004: Lawrence Dallaglio Nov 2004-Feb 2005: Jason Robinson Mar 2005-Mar 2006: Martin Corry Jun 2006: Pat Sanderson Nov 2006: Martin Corry Feb 2007: Phil Vickery Mar 2007: Mike Catt May 2007: Jason Robinson Jun 2007: Jonny Wilkinson Aug 2007: Phil Vickery Aug 2007: Mike Catt Aug–Sep 2007: Phil Vickery Sep 2007: Martin Corry Oct 2007–Feb 2008: Phil Vickery Feb 2008: Steve Borthwick Feb-Mar 2008: Phil Vickery Jun 2008–Mar 2010: Steve Borthwick Mar 2010–Nov 2010: Lewis Moody Nov 2010: Nick Easter Nov 2010: Lewis Moody Feb 2011: Mike Tindall Aug 2011: Lewis Moody Aug 2011–Sep 2011: Mike Tindall Sep 2011: Lewis Moody^[n1] Sep 2011: Simon Shaw^[n1] Oct 2011: Lewis Moody Feb–Jun 2012: Chris Robshaw Jun 2012: Dylan Hartley Nov 2012–Mar 2013: Chris Robshaw Jun 2013: Tom Wood Nov 2013–Oct 2015: Chris Robshaw Feb 2016– : Dylan Hartley

^[n1] Lewis Moody was substituted in the England vs Georgia match on 18 September 2011, and Simon Shaw was confirmed as captain for the remainder of the match.

Authority control	WorldCat Identities VIAF: 112301433 ISNI: 0000 0001 1083 8673 SUDOC: 033875723 BNF: cb12468830f (data)

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