Paul Ackford

Paul Ackford
Date of birth	26 February 1958 (age 66)
Place of birth	Hanover, West Germany
Height	1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)
Weight	112 kg (247 lb)
Rugby union career
Position(s)
Position(s)	Lock
International career
Years	Team
1988-1991	England

Paul Ackford (born 26 February 1958) is a former English rugby union international who played lock forward. He was formerly an inspector in the Metropolitan Police, and is now a columnist for The Telegraph.^[1]

Early life

Ackford was born in Hanover, West Germany.

Education

He was educated at Plymouth College, the University of Kent (BA) and Cambridge University (MA). He played lock for England B aged 21 and represented Cambridge in the 1979 Varsity Match, but did not make an impact until joining Harlequins and the Police in 1983.

Career

After impressing for the London Division against the touring Wallabies, he made his England debut on 5 November 1988 against Australia, aged 30.

Partnering police constable Wade Dooley, Ackford became an important part of the new side captained by Will Carling. He went on the 1989 British Lions tour to Australia, where he played in all three tests.

In 1990 he was knocked unconscious when blindsided by the young Argentine front row forward Federico Mendez, which saw Mendez sent off. Mendez later claimed it was a case of mistaken identity, and that he had meant to hit Jeff Probyn, because he had "stamped on my goolies".^[2] Ackford was part of the England side that won the Five Nations Grand Slam in 1991. He retired from international rugby after the 1991 World Cup, won by Australia, becoming a journalist and writing for the Sunday Telegraph.

References

^ "Paul Ackford - Sunday Telegraph's Rugby Union Columnist". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 14 September 2008. Retrieved 3 October 2012.
^ Glover, Tim (9 October 2008). "Ruck stars: Hitting it off in the world of rugby". The Independent. Archived from the original on 22 November 2008. Retrieved 18 May 2010.

External links

[1] "Paul Ackford - Sunday Telegraph's Rugby Union Columnist". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 14 September 2008. Retrieved 3 October 2012.

[2] Glover, Tim (9 October 2008). "Ruck stars: Hitting it off in the world of rugby". The Independent. Archived from the original on 22 November 2008. Retrieved 18 May 2010.

[1]

[2]

v t e British Lions – 1989 Australia tour
Forwards	Ackford Calder Chilcott Dooley Griffiths Jeffrey Lenihan Moore Norster Richards Robinson Smith Sole Teague White Young
Backs	Andrew Armstrong Chalmers Clement Dean Devereux Dods Evans Guscott Hall G. Hastings S. Hastings Jones Mullin Oti Underwood Carling (withdrew - injury)
Coach	McGeechan

v t e France vs British Lions (1989) squad
Forwards	Ackford Griffiths Robinson Smith Egerton Probyn Cronin Matthews Callander Fitzgerald Francis
Backs	Andrew (c) Guscott G. Hastings S. Hastings Jones Mullin Underwood Aherne Chalmers Clement
Coach	McGeechan

v t e Four Home Unions XV – 1990 Four Home Unions v Rest of Europe
Forwards	B C Moore England M Griffiths Wales P J Ackford in bio England D F Cronin in teamsheet Scotland N P Francis Ireland J Jeffrey Scotland P J Winterbottom England N P Mannion Ireland J A Probyn England K S Milne Scotland D J Turnbull Scotland D M B Sole Scotland
Backs	S M Bates England A G Hastings Scotland A G Stanger Scotland W D C Carling England J C Guscott England R Underwood England C R Andrew England R J Hill England C H Chalmers Scotland
Coach	I R McGeechan Scotland

v t e England squad – 1991 Rugby World Cup runners-up
Forwards	Ackford Dooley Leonard Moore Olver Pearce Probyn Redman Rees Rendall Richards Skinner Teague Winterbottom
Backs	Andrew Carling (c) Guscott Halliday Heslop Hill Hodgkinson Oti R. Underwood Webb
Head coach: Cooke