We are saddened to report the death of Richard Adrian William Sharp OBE (1938-2025), who died on 3 November 2025.
In 1963 Richard Sharp led England to victory in the Five Nations Championship, scoring a 40-yard try against Scotland which is considered to be the most elegant try of all time. Between 1960 and 1967 he won 14 caps for England and also toured with the British Lions in 1962. His name is said to have inspired that of the character of Richard Sharpe in Bernard Cornwell’s Sharpe novels.
Richard taught geography at Sherborne School from September 1963 to Summer 1968, where he was also a house tutor in Abbeylands and Lyon House and, alongside Hubert Moore, coached the XV.
Rob Hands (b 92) paid the following tribute to Richard Sharp in Rugby Football at Sherborne School (1991):
‘Richard Sharp will always be remembered, in rugby football terms, as the scorer of a scintillating individual try for England against Scotland at Twickenham in 1963. Born in Mysore, Southern India, Sharp was a highly talented stand-off half for Oxford, the Barbarians and England, having played as a scrum half for English Public Schools while at Blundell’s. He captained his country on several occasions, in succession to Dickie Jeeps, the renowned England scrum half. Sharp went on the British Lions tour to South Africa in 1962, where he broke a cheekbone early in the tour, but recovered in time to play in the later games, including two Test appearances.
A flaxen-haired, slender figure, Sharp made his England debut as a late replacement for Bev Risman and played so well that Risman (no mean player himself) was forced to make his way back into the national side as a centre. He played for Redruth, Wasps and Bristol, playing county football for Cornwall and also played for the Royal Navy and Marines during his national service. Sharp came to Sherborne straight from Balliol, although he had had some limited teaching experience at St Edward’s, Oxford, whilst at university, and following his departure from Sherborne in 1968 went into the China Clay industry in Cornwall, where he still works. He had a spell as a journalist, writing on football for The Sunday Telegraph during the early 1980s. He received the OBE in 1986.’
In January 2013, Robert Kitson (g 82) interviewed Richard Sharp for The Guardian – ‘The forgotten story of Richard Sharp’
