Stephen Begley
Scottish rugby union player
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Stephen Begley (4 April 1975 − 10 September 2017) was a Scottish[2] rugby union player who played for Glasgow Warriors and Glasgow Hawks at the Lock position.
| Born | Stephen Begley 4 April 1975 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Died | 10 September 2017 (aged 42) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 110 kg (17 st 5 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Rugby union career
Amateur career
Beglay was born in Chatham, Kent, England and grew up in the Isle of Sheppey.[3] He had a grandmother from Gourock.[4]
Begley played for the amateur club Glasgow Academicals.[5][6][7][8] When the Accies merged with Glasgow High Kelvinside to form the Glasgow Hawks in 1997, he then played for the Glasgow Hawks.[9][10][11]
For a short spell, Begley played for Old Belvedere RFC in Dublin, Ireland.[12]
After moving back from France, Begley played for Watsonians[13] before moving back to Hawks.[14]
Begley was back with the Glasgow Hawks in 2003[15] via a short spell back at Glasgow Academicals.[16] His try for the Hawks clinched the BT Premiership title for them in 2004 against Heriots. Hawks became the first ever west of Scotland team to win the Scottish title,[17] in 30 years of effort.[18] Heriots had approached Begley to play for them in 1996.[19] The next year 2005 Hawks almost wrapped up the title against Heriots at Goldenacre with Begley again scoring a try.[20] The 2006 title was almost made certain at Currie.[21]
Begley left Glasgow Hawks in 2006.[22]
Provincial and professional career
Begley played in the amateur Glasgow District side at Under 21 grade.[23] He played several times for the professional side Glasgow in Europe.[24][25] As the Lock named for Warriors first match as a professional team - against Newbridge in the European Challenge Cup - Begley has the distinction of being given Glasgow Warrior No. 4 for the provincial side.
Begley played rugby in London and Cape Town.[2] The Cape Town side was Hamilton RFC, Sea Point. Begley played for them in the nineties and then turned out for them as a guest player when Hamilton, Sea Point entered a Sevens team in the Melrose Sevens in 2011. Begley turned out for them in the precursor Veterans Tens tournament which then the Cape Town side went on to win.[26] Begley was selected for the Scottish Exiles District team.[12]
He played for the French rugby clubs Lyon,[27] RC Strasbourg and Brive.[1][2]
International career
He played for the Scotland Under 19s[28] and Scotland Under 21s[5][29] and hoped for a call up to Scotland A.[2]
Death
Begley died while competing in Singapore International Triathlon at East Coast Park on 10 September 2017.[30][31] A medical team on shore gave CPR but it was to be in vain as Begley was pronounced dead at Singapore General Hospital.[3]