Roger Dennis Sangwin
The RFU has paid tribute to former England centre Roger Dennis Sangwin who has died aged 84.
He played against the touring New Zealand squad for North Eastern Counties in 1964 and then for England against the All Blacks at Twickenham. He represented his country again against Wales the same month and was travelling reserve when England played Ireland and France.
Educated at Terrington and Sedbergh, he enjoyed playing cricket, football and rugby. He played rugby for Yorkshire Schoolboys and joined the Hull & East Riding club straight from school, played for Yorkshire and The Barbarians and was also a Yorkshire selector for 10 years.
When selected to play for England, his club chairman described Roger as “dedicated to the game and an example to all young players.”
He continued to play for Hull & East Riding until 1982 when he was 45 years old. When the club split and one half became Hull Ionians, Roger helped Ionians and supported them until quite recently at home.
An architect with his own practice in Hull, in a talk he gave a talk a few years ago Roger said: “I remember only one equation in physics – Mass x Velocity = Momentum. I struggled against bigger and heavier men than me, who could push me off but fortunately, if I stayed on my feet, I could often catch them from behind”.
