January 11 down the years
The Pitbull is born
Brian Moore was born on this day in 1962
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1962
England hooker Brian Moore was born in Birmingham. Nicknamed the 'Pitbull', Moore was a combative presence in a very successful England side in the early to mid-1990s. He won Five Nations Grand Slams in 1991, 1992 and 1995 and played at the first three Rugby World Cups, including a start in the final of the 1991 tournament at Twickenham. Moore also played five Tests for the British & Irish Lions, including the victorious 1989 campaign in Australia. Following his retirement he took up a highly successful career in the media, commentating for the BBC and writing a regular column for The Daily Telegraph. In his autobiography, Beware of the Dog Moore admitted that he had been sexually abused as a child by a teacher and struggled to overcome the feelings of abandonment generated by his adoption.
1902
Wales won in London for the first time, beating England 9-8 at the Rectory Field in Blackheath. The legendary Rusty Gabe scored one of Wales' tries and forward Will Osborne bagged another on debut. Gabe started alongside his Cardiff centre partner Gwyn Nicholls in the centre, with Nicholls leading the side.
1913
Bordeaux staged its first major international match as the Springboks wound up their European tour with a 38-5 defeat of France. The Springboks had already completed a Grand Slam of the Home Unions but were not finished yet, running nine tries past the French in a rout.
1925
The Invincible All Blacks kicked-off the French leg of their tour with a 37-8 Sunday afternoon victory over a strong French Selection at Stade Colombes in Paris.
1948
France chalked up their first Test win against a major tour side, defeating the Wallabies 13-6 in Paris. In front of over 30,000 at the Stade Yves du Manoir, skipper and No.8 Guy Basquet sealed the game with a brace of tries.
1961
Newport pushed Avril Malan's Springboks to the wire in a hard match at Rodney Parade. A Piet van Zyl try in the opening minutes was the only score of a match watched by 22,000.
1969
The first substitution in the Five Nations. The new Law was invoked by Scotland who brought on scrum-half Ian McCrae when Gordon Connell retired injured in the first half. Jim Telfer lead by example scoring the winning try for Scotland near the end. Result: France 3, Scotland 6 at Stade Colombes.
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