First 15 January 1977 at Twickenham (England 26- 6 Scotland)

“I’d had very little problem with injuries until I came back from the ‘74 Lions tour beaten up and battered and went straight back to playing," recalls Uttley. "That saw me picking up injuries which hampered the rest of my career.

“By ’77, I’d missed a season through injury and the team was in a parlous state. It was a disaster, I think we’d had the wooden spoon in the previous Five Nations. I’d captained Gosforth to back-to-back John Player Cups and players in the North were on the rise, creating a bit of a change to the old order of things, where previously it had been London and Midlands club players dominating England selection.

“The stats were dire despite wins against South Africa and New Zealand away, and it was clear something wasn’t right. I’d had some experience as a captain and really enjoyed the role and, as I came back from a broken leg, I was now among the senior players and looking forward to making a contribution.

“I captained one of the trial sides and I think the chairman of selectors, Sandy Sanders, asked me to captain England. It was better than what often happened in those days of iffy communications, when you often got journalists ringing up and telling you what was going on and if you were in the side.

“There was a growing feeling among the senior players, people like Fran Cotton, Tony Neary, Peter Dixon, Alan Old and me, that England should be more successful. That was the spirit that I wanted to engender as captain, that we were better than previous results indicated.

"To play for England was a huge honour and to be named captain was amazing, especially when coaching was still developing. It meant that once you were on the pitch as captain it was down to you and your team mates. You didn’t come off at half time, just sucked on an orange and made plans for the second half, re-emphasised what needed to be done.

Captaincy for Blackpool Boy

“My wife Kris was delighted for me. She’d always been involved in the ups and downs and we all made sacrifices. We were living up in Newcastle and Sunday squad sessions were often in the Midlands. Weekends were a non-event unless you were injured and then you’d be a pain to live with. My parents, who’d always been supportive of my rugby, were tremendously proud that their Blackpool boy was captaining England. My father worked on a Saturday so rarely enjoyed seeing me play but was a keen supporter of my rugby.

“The upshot of it was, rugby was what I was good at and, as a PE teacher, it was as close to being a professional as it could get in the amateur era. I’d had some inspiring teachers in Bryn Jones at Montgomery Secondary Modern and Jack Quarnby in my two sixth form years at Blackpool Grammar. They were largely responsible for me getting into England Schools, which really set me on my path in rugby,

“As I stepped into the captaincy for that Five Nations match at Twickenham, it was great because Malcolm Young, the Gosforth scrum half, got his long overdue first cap at 31 and Peter Dixon, who played in the Gosforth back row with me, was also selected. We were confident we could get the job done.

"We travelled down to Kings Cross together on the train on the Thursday morning, got the tube out to the Petersham Hotel in Richmond and trained in the afternoon at St Mary’s in Teddington. Then it was the cinema Thursday evening, light training and a team meeting before an early night on Friday.

“On the Saturday we were surrounded by blue lights as the bus headed for Twickenham and drove through the picnics in the West Car Park. It was bring your own white shorts and if you’d had socks for the last match you’d better make sure you brought those as well. We dropped our bags in the changing room where our shirts were waiting, hanging on our pegs. Then we sat and looked at the match programme, the telegrams from our parents, clubs, friends. 

"We went out and inspected the pitch, looked at the weather. There was no warming up on the pitch, we just did a bit of stretching or running on the spot in the changing room.

“Then as captain I kept the talk simple, looked around at the players, repeated what I’d said the night before about going out and proving we were proud to be playing for England; that our destiny was in our hands and it depended on how badly we wanted to win. You came out of the narrow tunnel and down a ramp and a few steps, hoping you didn’t stumble on your studs and look like a complete numpty. Each team ran out separately and there was no formal setting for the anthems as a military band played. When everyone stood to attention it was wherever they happened to be, maybe in a huddle. It felt great to be in front of a Twickenham crowd.

“The nerves were there but once the ball goes up in the air it’s game on and that game really went our way.  We were 13-6 up at half time. Charlie Kent had a great game, he was a crash ball merchant and nobody laid a finger on him. Malcolm Young also scored and I scored one of my only two England tries late on. I broke from the back of a scrum and as I grounded the ball it was a moment of pure joy. Apparently, Bill McLaren commented on me having one leg waving in the air, which the lads back home enjoyed.

“When we came off, the 20 points difference was our biggest result in a Calcutta Cup game until then and I was immensely proud. Kris had caught the train down to the game, carrying her party frock in a little bag for the post-match dinner. Then it was back up on the train on Sunday with the service constantly re-routed and off back to teaching on Monday.”