DAVID Cooke might have looked a little like Jean Pierre Rives and, like the legendary French flanker, he was a hard core rugby player who belied his rockstar appearance. Most of that he puts down to Danny Hearn, his school coach and mentor at Haileybury.
“Dan was an amazing coach, out in all weather on the touchline in his wheelchair, that sort of dedication was really inspiring,” recalls Cooke nearly 50 years on. “He had a great intellect generally and regarding sport and got into your mind like very few coaches I ever encountered, he knew what made you tick.
“He was tough and uncompromising – he needed that to deal with his injuries and disabilities – and when you get a rocket from a coach in a wheelchair believe me you take the message on board. Especially from a guy who played for England and was tipped to captain the team before injury struck.
“He was very shrewd and thought out of the box. We were having a great season in 1973 and as ever the big match on the horizon was Wellington. Now they had a great schoolboy international prop called Richard Oliphant who dominated the scrum as Wellington hammered virtually everybody.
“Dan came up to me – usually a No.8 or flanker – and said I want you to play opposite Oliphant in the front row and take him on. He scares his opponents, the game is lost before the kick off, but you don't get intimidated by anybody.
“I was never particularly tall for a flanker and I was pretty strong so perhaps it wasn't an impossible leap. But I had never played prop before and it would never be allowed today. I can't claim to have bettered Richard but I fought him all the way. Let's call it a draw… but we nicked the match.
“I got my own back in a way a few months later when we went on tour with the Nomads, a schoolboy touring team Dan ran based on Haileybury and a few of the schools on our circuit. I did Morocco and Sri Lanka.
“We were in Kandy doing elephant rides and we decided that Dan should not miss out on the experience. He had been giving us heaps in training all season so now it was payback. We somehow craned him up to sit on the elephant, secured him with rope lashings and then one of us sat behind and one in front to wedge him in. Let's just say he was glad when it was all over.
“Towards the end of my school career he asked me if I knew how good I was. I was taken aback, I just enjoyed my rugby and got stuck in to the best of my ability. I had no thoughts of being any kind of special player. He was having none of that.
“He told me that I was good enough to play for England and I could win many caps, enjoy a major career. Dan hated to see anybody waste their talent – his career had been cut short before he had fulfilled his full potential – and he insisted that if you are blessed with good health and ability you should use it.
“He said he was going to put me forward for the annual Richmond schools v London Scottish schools game which was a bit of a recruiting ground for the big clubs. Quins spotted me and I was making my debut just over a year later.”
