Bill Beaumont
British Lions & England international rugby union player and administrator (born 1952)
Sir William Blackledge Beaumont (born 9 March 1952) is an English former rugby union player, and was captain of the England national team, earning 34 caps. His greatest moment as captain was the unexpected 1980 Grand Slam win.2
From Wikipedia’s article on Bill Beaumont (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Born Mar 9, 1952.1
About
He played as a lock.
He is currently the interim chairman of the Rugby Football Union, having previously held the position from 2012 to 2016, and was chairman of World Rugby from July 2016 to November 2024.
From Wikipedia’s article on Bill Beaumont, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2
Companies
- Six Nations Rugby LtdChair 2012 to 201613
Early life and education
- Date not recordedEllesmere College3
Beaumont was educated at Cressbrook School, Kirkby Lonsdale (also attended by another England and British Lions player, John Spencer) and Ellesmere College in Shropshire. He joined Fylde Rugby Club, Lancashire, in 1969 when he was 17 years old and stayed with the club until injury forced his retirement in 1982.
From Wikipedia’s article on Bill Beaumont (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Career
Occupation: entrepreneur, rugby union executive, rugby union player.7
- 2016 to 2024President, World Rugby4
- 2016 to 2024Chair, World Rugby6
- 2012 to 2016Chair, Six Nations Rugby Ltd5
Playing career
Beaumont won 34 caps for England, then a record for a lock, and was captain 21 times. He made his international debut as a 22-year-old in Dublin in 1975 as a late replacement for Roger Uttley. He toured Australia in 1975, Japan, Fiji and Tonga in 1979, and Argentina in 1981 with England. He played 15 times for the Barbarians, including the match against the All Blacks in 1978.
Beaumont took part in the 1977 British Lions tour to New Zealand after being called up as a replacement when Nigel Horton broke his thumb, and played in the final three tests.
He took over as England captain in Paris in 1978. He was an inspiring captain of the North of England, whom he led to victory over the All Blacks in 1979, and also of England, who won their first Grand Slam for 23 years in 1980.
Beaumont then captained the 1980 British Lions tour to South Africa playing in 10 of the 18 matches. He was the first English captain of the Lions since Doug Prentice in 1930.
Beaumont retired from rugby in 1982 on medical advice from doctors, because of successive concussions.
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Media and business
Beaumont became a regular contestant on the BBC quiz show A Question of Sport, eventually becoming the show's second longest-serving captain (14 years in total), only being surpassed by fellow rugby union player Matt Dawson in 2018. The opposing captains were Willie Carson, Emlyn Hughes and Ian Botham. Beaumont hosted two episodes of the show in 1996 in the regular host David Coleman's absence: Will Carling stood in as captain for Beaumont's team.
He was the managing director of his family's textile business in Lancashire, which is the only remaining textile manufacturer in Chorley, but resigned in May 2017.
From Wikipedia’s article on Bill Beaumont (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Personal life
Awards
Links
Sources
The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.
- 1WikidataBill Beaumont on Wikidata
- 2WikipediaBill Beaumont on Wikipedia
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- 11WikidataBill Beaumont: X, on Wikidata
- 12WikidataBill Beaumont: IMDb, on Wikidata
- 13WikidataSix Nations Rugby Ltd, Chair
- 14Wikimedia CommonsBill Beaumont photo by 首相官邸, CC BY 4.0