Mark Sugden

Mark Sugden (11 February 1902 - 21 January 1990) was an Irish rugby union player, and rugby author. An outstanding scrum half in the late 1920s and early 30s, he was captain in the 1931 season when Ireland beat England for the third successive time by a margin of a single point. His main claim to fame as a player is that he is credited with developing the dummy pass. He also played cricket for Ireland.

Mark Sugden was born 11 February 1902 in Leek, Staffordshire, England, son of Frederick Sugden, silk merchant, from Staffordhire, and Frances Grace Sugden from London. Sugden was brought to Dublin at the age of four when his father retired to Westminster Road, Foxrock, and went to preparatory school at Earlsfort House before attending Denstone College, Staffordshire. He subsequently returned to Ireland to attend TCD. Sugden played rugby and cricket for Trinity, graduating BA (1926), and also played rugby for Wanderers and Leinster. Initially a rather average centre, his career blossomed when he was switched to scrum-half, a position in which he excelled. Sugden was eligible to be selected for Ireland under the residency qualification, and he made his international rugby debut at scrum-half against France in Paris on New Year's Day 1925, scoring a try in Ireland's 9–3 victory. A draw against England and a victory against Scotland ensured that Ireland finished second in the Five Nations championship that year, their best performance since 1912. His career in the Irish team coincided with one of Ireland's most successful periods at international level; although the side won no championships or triple crowns, they did win matches with a consistency that had not been a hallmark of Irish sides of the past. Sugden went on to become one of the finest scrum-halves ever to play for Ireland, and his half-back partnership with his great friend Eugene Davy (qv) is regarded by many as the best ever seen in the green shirt. His total of twenty-eight appearances for Ireland made him the country's most capped scrum-half until that figure was exceeded in 1993. He missed only one international between his debut and his final appearance against Wales in 1931, when he was sensationally dropped in favour of his Leinster understudy, Paul Murray (qv), for the 1927 game against France. He captained Ireland in 1931, his last season.

Perhaps not surprisingly, his most memorable performances tended to be against England. In 1926 Ireland defeated England 19–15 in what was their first win over England since 1911, Sugden's elusive running setting up Denis Cussen (qv) to score two of Ireland's four tries. An 11–8 defeat to Wales that year cost Ireland a triple crown and what would have been their first grand-slam. In 1929 tries by Sugden and Paul Murray (who was now playing at out-half), gave Ireland a 6–5 victory over England – their first away victory over them since 1906 and their first ever at Twickenham – with Sugden jinking over for the winning score. In 1931 a home win over Scotland and a third consecutive victory over England set them up once again for a second triple crown opportunity in as many years, but again they were thwarted, with Wales winning 15–3 in Belfast. The previous season a defeat to the same opposition had deprived Ireland of a triple crown and the championship, a situation made all the more galling by the fact that Wales had previously lost to both England and Scotland. The Belfast defeat was to be Sugden's final international, as it was for other Irish stalwarts – Jack Arigho (qv), Jimmy Farrell, and ‘Jammie’ Clinch (qv). With their departure, the great Irish team of the late 1920s began to break up. All told, in twenty-eight internationals Sugden finished on the winning side sixteen times, lost ten games, and drew two, scoring three tries in the process; a record that would compare favourably with any other Irish player before the professional era. He would have been a certainty for the 1930 Lions tour to New Zealand but, like many other prominent players, made himself unavailable for what was to be a seven-month tour. He was, however, selected by the Barbarians, making his first appearance for them in 1925. He also played on a Scotland–Ireland selection that defeated (20–13) an England–Wales side in 1929.

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