Nigel Melville: Firsts & Lasts
The latest in our series speaking to former England captains sees Nigel Melville recall his first and last as skipper.
Born in Leeds and growing up in Otley, Nigel Melville started playing rugby at Aireborough Grammar School but his local club was practically the family home.
His dad Harry had played on the wing, before becoming fixture secretary, his mum Pauline was on the committee. His brother Glyn was top try scorer on the wing at Cross Green. Life revolved around the Otley club.
Nigel was a born number 9, possessed of all the essential instinct and confidence, the powerful spiralling pass, the ability to spot a gap and blast through it. With a real rugby brain and unpredictable scrum half nous, his kicking skills, sniping runs and searing pace always presented a threat to the opposition.
Although he became only the fourth to captain England on a début he was hardly new to international rugby.
It was also the first time I’d actually met people from the south. There was one dressing room for players from the north and another for everyone from the south.
He had been on England’s radar for five years. Fresh from school, he had benched at Otley when the North beat the All Blacks, in 1979 and had been dazzled by the achievement of his rugby heroes. His initial England session was the following morning in Leicester.
“It was also the first time I’d actually met people from the south. There was one dressing room for players from the north and another for everyone from the south. It opened my eyes to things,” he said.
Having played for the England Schools 19 age group on tour to New Zealand and Australia in 1979, been the youngest to captain England B, played for the England Under 23s on their tour of Romania in 1983, at 23 Nigel became the youngest player to captain England. He went on to make another 12 appearances over the next four years and captain England seven times.
It would certainly have been more but for injuries affecting his neck, knees and ankle. When he made a return from injury in 1988, Chris Tau, of Rugby World and Post, wrote that Nigel had staged one of the most remarkable rugby comebacks in re-capturing both his England team place and also the captaincy.
When injury brought his international career to an end, Nigel returned to Otley as player-coach and went on to become Director of Rugby at London Wasps taking them to their first professional Premiership title in 1996, three National Cup Final appearances, and two wins.
Moving to Gloucester Rugby, he oversaw wins in the Zurich Championship Final, the Powergen Cup and took them to top of the Zurich Premiership table.
He then became CEO and President of Rugby Operations for USA Rugby where he set up their rookie rugby programme, returning to become Director of Professional Rugby at the RFU from 2016 to 19.
First 3 November 1984 England 3 - 19 Australia at Twickenham Stadium
“I actually got selected to play for England in 1983 and would have made my debut then but for an ankle injury. I went on the Lions tour to New Zealand and came back with a neck injury, then went back to training, only to pick up another knee injury which required several operations.
“I’d already been on the England bench something like 16 times but in those days you only got on if there was an injury and our scrum half Steve Smith was made of iron. I’d been around England for several years and I learned a lot from Steve.
“I remember Derek Morgan, who was chairman of selectors, called me and said I’d been selected to play against Australia. I was pretty pleased about that and then, just before he hung up, he said ‘Oh, by the way, you’re the captain!’
“To be honest, I wasn’t all that happy. I wanted to get my first cap out of the way, focus on my game, not all the stuff like leading the team out, the media and everything the captaincy called for. Of course, I wasn’t going to turn it down but I could have done without it. I guess you could say leadership was thrust upon me.
A lot of new faces
“We were in a time of transition with a lot of players coming through. Making their debuts alongside me on the day were Stuart Barnes, Gareth Chilcott, Rob Lozowski and Nigel Redman. There were a lot of new faces and we were meeting an Australia team that had won a Grand Slam and was probably their best team for many years, with Nick Farr-Jones at scrum half, Michael Lynagh at centre, David Campese on the wing. I knew the Ella brothers from the England Schools tour. I had no illusions about the quality we were playing against.
“We usually got together on the Thursday, played on Saturday and were back at work on Monday. On this occasion, we met up at Worcester on the Monday and introduced ourselves to each other.
"The day itself was quite an emotional time, I’d been on a journey to play for England. Just to run out was special, so to lead the team out was super special. My mum and dad were there and I remember dad was absolutely petrified. Before the match as I walked out onto the turf in an empty stadium, there was dad already in his seat on his own, sitting rigid. It probably wasn’t a good idea that all game I knew exactly where he was.
“He was a winger, like my brother. He always drove me to games, to trials, he was totally supportive but not one of those dads who offered opinions or told you what to do, although if I misbehaved I would certainly hear about it.
“I didn’t see myself as being different to the other players. I was proud to be out there, wearing the shirt, singing the anthem. It was a dream come true. You were weighing it all up though, thinking about the wind, the grass, the kick-off. It was game on. Then through the whole game we couldn’t get enough ball. The first half we were at parity and were 3 – 3 at the break. They were powerful up front and the more the game went on, the less ball we were getting, we were playing off scraps.
Slippery and windy
“It was pretty slippery and, with the old Twickenham sheds, pretty windy. The wind would come in at the corners and swirl around. They kept the grass really long and I remember at the first lineout looking at Stuart Barnes at 10. He was miles away, he looked tiny and the grass was almost up to his knees. In those days we played with a leather Gilbert ball and they put dubbin on it so it was quite slippery. I threw the ball and fortunately it went straight to him.
“A few minutes into the game Nick Farr-Jones was chasing a kick and I was dropping back. I heard booing and there was Farr-Jones on his back and Chilcott standing over him, trying to look innocent. I thought ‘What have you done?’ as the referee took him aside but thankfully he stayed on. I remember Rob Lozowski falling over and them scoring a try out of it, which put us on the back foot in the second half.
“I was disappointed we’d lost but we had lost to the better team, one that was very strong and on the first game of their November. We were a new team and we’d played pretty well. I was pretty optimistic because we had done OK against world-class players. We went up to the Hilton for the post match dinner. I wasn’t nervous about the speeches because nobody listens anyway. I got my cap presented and my dad was there to see it, then it was work on Monday for all of us. I was working for Nike at the time and sharing a flat with Huw Davies who played with me at Wasps.”
Last 19 March 1988 England 35-3 Ireland at Twickenham
“It was the 100th England v Ireland match and we were doing all right at the time. Geoff Cooke was coaching England and the team was building, developing stability. I’d had constant knee problems but I just played on through, kept going as long as I could. It was a tight first half and then, just before half time, I remember I was coming across sideways and passed the ball to Rob Andrew as I was tackled.
“I went down with three defenders on top of me. I felt something wasn’t right and when I looked at my foot it was pointing the wrong way. The force of the movement had given me a double dislocation of the ankle and had broken my leg below the knee. I thought ‘They’ll be able to put that back for the second half’ and then ‘Oh my God, this isn’t good’ as the pain set in. I was carried from the pitch, down the tunnel and there were two St John’s Ambulance guys, one older, one younger. They handed me to these guys with my leg still bent
80 or 90 degrees the wrong way. They put me on a stretcher, loaded me into their ambulance and drove me to casualty at the West Middlesex Hospital up the road.
A nurse asked if I would donate my shirt
“There I was, in my England shirt, waiting for the orthopaedic surgeon and a nurse came up and said as I wasn’t from ‘round here’ I’d have to fill in some forms. The game was on in the casualty waiting room and though they said the doctor was going to come and look at me, he was at the match watching the second half. They couldn’t give me pain killers until I saw the surgeon and then another nurse came and asked if I would donate the England shirt I was wearing for a hospital fund raiser!
“The surgeon, Ian Duff, had already operated on my knee a couple of times. When he eventually turned up, smelling of brandy, he said the second half was so brilliant he couldn’t tear himself away from it. He put me to sleep to sort my leg out. Back then it was all on the NHS. He put some screws in but that was the end of my international career. I’ve still got washers in my leg now. They took the pins out but forgot the washers.
Campaigned for best medical heath provision
“I still ran out for Otley as player/coach for another two or three years but I couldn’t run as fast, I’d lost my pace after that last injury. There was no real player welfare back then. The doctor would just say ‘If there’s a problem come back and see me.’ I’ve always campaigned for supporting players and giving them the best medical health provision. It certainly wasn’t a priority when I played.
“Playing for England and being captain, you learn to lead a team of incredibly talented people. It’s a joy, they know what they are doing and I’ve always been a very collaborative leader, known that we had the answers together. Everyone has value to add in a team and everyone should have the opportunity to add that value. Interdependence is really important, you rely on each other to do the best you can.
“It was an ambition as a kid, you just wanted to play for England, it was the pinnacle. That dream came true for me, which was brilliant and captaining fantastic people, what better could you ever ask for?”
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