RUGBY MATTERS
BRENDAN GALLAGHER

I am indebted to Andrew Beattie, the archivist at Eltham College, for more ‘gen’ on AL ‘Bill’ Gracie who got a mention in despatches last week when we chronicled the rugby career of Chariots of Fire 400m Olympic champion Eric Liddell.
It appears that not only did Eric rank, just, behind his older brother Robert in the Eltham pantheon of athletes and sportsmen, but both were bettered by Gracie, who was another sporting son of farflung Scottish missionaries.
The remarkable Gracie enjoyed six years in the Eltham First Xl – first appearing as a 12-year-old ...