Obituary: Ronnie Lamb

Ronald Hunter Lamb was educated at Merchiston Castle School in Edinburgh and went on to read geography and public and social administration/business studies at St Edmund Hall, Oxford University from 1961-65.

He won three Blues in the 1962, 1963 and 1964 Varsity matches and was part of a strong Scottish contingent during that period at Oxford University, which included full-back Stewart Wilson and wing/centre David Whyte, who both went on to represent Scotland, while Gordonian, Alastair Whyte, was a doughty campaigner at hooker.

Lamb’s highlight was captaining Oxford to a 19-6 victory against Cambridge in 1964 when his opposite number at stand-off was the Irish and Lions great, Mike Gibson.  The result was a surprise, as Cambridge had won the preceding four matches.

In his match report, under the headline: Lamb hero of Oxford’s emphatic victory, John Downie of the then Glasgow Herald, wrote: “Almost everything that had been predicted about the match proved false.

“The great shining star of the whole game, for instance, was expected to be Gibson, the Cambridge and Ireland stand-off.

“Yet the hero, carried off at the end, was his opposite number, Lamb – a trialist rejected by the Scottish selectors – who had been so badly troubled by a left knee injury that it was doubted until recently that he would even by fit to play.”

Lamb also played club rugby for Edinburgh Wanderers and London Scottish.

Scottish Rugby extends its sincere condolences to all Ronnie Lamb’s family and friends.