My Life in Rugby: Mike Rafter – former Bristol and England back rower

Being one of 11 children I suppose it was inevitable that I had an ultra-competitive streak. That desire to win at everything and fight until the bitter end, whether it was tiddly-winks, marbles or rugby never left me and I suppose helped earn me the nickname Rafter ‘The Grafter'. In our house it was first up “best dressed” and first at the table “best fed”!
I was fortunate to captain Bristol and Gloucestershire during a wonderful two-year period in 1983 and ‘84, where we won a combined total of three cup finals. Gloucestershire won back-to-back County titles with wins over Yorkshire (19-7) and Somerset (36-18), while Bristol beat Leicester to lift the 1983 John Player Special Cup. Unfortunately we fell just short of defending the cup against Bath the following year.
The Leicester games and everything else around is in-grained in my memory to this day. We'd got caught up in traffic on the approach to Twickenham, and our team secretary Alan Ramsey, fearing that we'd miss the kick-off, jumped off the coach at Kew Gardens to find a phone box (no mobiles in those days) and request a police escort. While he was away we got moving again and by the time we'd come to a halt again, the police motorbike rider Alan had called for arrived and led us through the gridlock. Alan turned up in the changing room a few minutes before the game was due to start absolutely soaked in sweat having run the last few miles. He jumped straight into the shower which had everyone in stitches and helped to break the ice.
I remember we started the match slowly and trailed 10-3 before John Carr scored a great try which spurred us on. Even though the game could have gone either way there was an inner-belief that we would win. John scored his second before Simon Hogg and Bob Hesford added further tries. It was a great performance.
Twelve months on, Stuart Barnes' late penalty miss denied me and many of my team-mates the ‘double-double'. It was incredibly disappointing because the game was very tight in every department. Roger Spurrell and I had a right old scrap at the side of every scrum and at the back of every lineout. The final result was always going to come down to fine margins, a missed tackle or a poor kick. We'd been awarded the last-gasp penalty after Alan Morley had been tackled late as he tried to follow up his own kick. One can only imagine what the outcome of his ‘kick and chase' might have produced had he not been impeded.
With England I went on to play 20-odd games after my debut against Scotland in 1977, but was capped only 17 times because back then matches against the likes of Japan and Tonga weren't treated as full internationals. Being a member of the 1980 Grand Slam-winning team was a highlight, especially as I came on as a replacement in the crucial 9-8 win over Wales. That year I was also named reserve for the Lions tour to South Africa but never got called up. I did get to play in an unofficial Lions series, though, after the Public School Wanderers selected me to play in two Tests against Zimbabwe. Robert Mugabe had refused the Lions entry into the country after saying they'd been tainted by apartheid and we went instead. I scored in the second Test in Bulawayo.
More representative rugby came my way when I was selected to play for the Wales/England XV against a Scotland/Ireland team in 1980. This was to celebrate the Welsh Centenary, in Cardiff, one of my favourite rugby cities. I was also selected for the WRU President's XV against Wales in 1984 to celebrate the completion of the National Stadium. Living in Bristol, across the Severn, almost made me a ‘local'! I was thrilled to play for the Barbarians four times, and it may surprise a few people but I actually kicked a conversion in the game against Swansea.
My footballing ability – I once trialled for Bristol City – was actually responsible for one of my most notable sporting achievements: matching Georgie Best goal for goal, while I was still an England international, with a brace in a 4-1 win for his All-Stars XI against a Barnstaple Invitation XI, below. He was dating Miss World at the time, Mary Stavin, and I had the pleasure of sitting next to her at the post-match dinner!
Who knows how far I'd have got in football had I not taken up rugby at St Brendan's College, in Bristol, where a rugby mad Welshman called Elwyn Price was a great inspiration. He took me on runs and individual training sessions leading up to my England U19 schoolboy trials.
From there, I trained to be a PE teacher at St Luke's, in Exeter, alongside Jeff Squire, Mike Slemen, John Scott and Dave Burcher. I played for Devon and I also took my next step on the international ladder with selection for the England U23s.
Nowadays, I'm still involved in rugby as a citing commissioner as well as continuing in my long-standing role as a director with sports and leisure clothing firm Monsoon Ruggur.
*As told to Jon Newcombe