George (Larry) Lamb
The Rugby Football Union has paid tribute to former international referee Larry Lamb, who died peacefully at home on Thursday 22 September, aged 99.
England’s oldest surviving referee, Larry couldn’t be at Twickenham when 23 other top England rugby referees received caps recently, so current RFU President Nigel Gillingham, drove to his Hertfordshire home to present him with his cap.
When Larry Lamb was refereeing in the seventies, he was an Air Commodore commanding RAF Lyneham. His first international in the middle was the All Blacks v France in Bordeaux. He continued to referee as an Air Marshal.
Said Nigel Gillingham, a former RAF officer himself: “It was an honour for me to present the cap to the Air Marshal. He was an outstanding referee, officiating at 14 Internationals and virtually every other prestigious fixture on the then first-class calendar, including as touch judge at the RFU’s Centenary game when England played the President’s Overseas XV in 1971, and, certainly, the only one who could help himself to an aircraft and fly out to referee international matches. He was truly a legend.”
