Obituary: Rob Cunningham

Edinburgh born on 5 January 1950, Rob was a hooker at club level with Boroughmuir, Gosforth, Tynedale and Northumberland before joining Bath in 1980. He first took up the game at Forrester High School in the capital.

Rob made some 59 appearances for Bath, and he was widely regarded as one of the best pound-for-pound of their front-row forwards with an innate ability to read the game.

He was also a leader, and, in that role, he captained Scotland B on four of his six appearances. In all he was involved in three victories over the French and one against the Irish.

Looking at some of his opponents at that time, they included the French loose-head colossus, Pascal Ondarts.

Scottish Rugby Past President and former Scotland captain, Andy Irvine, recalled: “I think it’s fair to say that Rob was a rather robust player and I much preferred playing with him rather than against him!”

“I always enjoyed his company, and he was a great rugby tourist.”

In that regard, Cunningham toured with Scotland to North America in 1985, marking the 62-6 victory over the Canadian Wolverines in Edmonton with a try.

He was an unused replacement for the Scotland team on some 11 occasions, beginning and concluding against Ireland in Dublin (1982-1984), in an era when players were only enlisted from the bench through an injury.

On his playing retirement, Rob brought his sharp game-intellect to coaching. Sadly, in recent years, he was afflicted by poor health.

Scottish Rugby extends its sincere sympathies to Rob’s family and many friends. His family are planning a memorial service, in Edinburgh, and once details are finalised, we will post on the Scottish Rugby website.

Our picture shows Rob as captain with the Scotland B team that defeated their Irish counterparts 22-13 at the Greenyards, Melrose, in December 1983.