FERGUS SLATTERY RIP: Lions memories and touring Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa

Fergus Slattery, one of Ireland’s greatest rugby players, has died at the age of 77.In a statement, Blackrock College RFC announced the news this morning, hailing their former flanker as a “Lion of Lions”.Born in 1949, Slattery attended Blackrock College and won the 1966 Leinster Schools Senior Cup, before joining the club as a 17-year-old and excelling in senior rugby.He went on to win 61 caps for Ireland, captaining the country and winning the Five Nations Championship in 1974 and Triple Crowns in 1982 and 1985 as part of a legendary back-row with Willie Duggan and John O’Driscoll. He was also part of the 1979 series win in Australia.Slattery is also a legendary Lion and was called up to the tours of New Zealand in 1971 and South Africa in 1974 where he played in the Test series win.He was also a key part in the Barbarians’ most famous try against the All Blacks in 1973. In total, he played 18 times for the invitational club.After retirement, Slattery remained heavily involved in rugby through his media work with the BBC and with Blackrock College where he was a keen proponent of the sport’s amateur values.In recent years, his family disclosed that Slattery suffered from dementia, revealing the scale of his illness in an interview with The Sunday Times.He is survived by his wife Margo, daughter Nikki, son Cameron and his grandchildren.Here is former Ireland and Lion back row Slattery speaking to our own Nathan Murphy ahead of the Lions tour of 2017, and about his memories of being a Tourist back in the early 1970s.Become a member and subscribe at offtheball.com/join