Gordon Hamilton Bio

This was during the abovementioned Rugby World Cup of 1991 during Ireland’s quarter final match against Australia, when the side were trailing the Wallabies with just minutes to spare. Gordon Hamilton ran over 40 metres with the ball to then ride a tackle and score his try in the corner. Ralph Keyes then kicked the conversion to give Ireland an 18-15 lead, only for Australia to break Irish hearts just moments later with a match-winning try in the game’s dying seconds. The Wallabies would then go on to win the tournament.

The Ireland national side has yet to better this quarter-final finish, but despite the loss, this moment is still seen as one of the most special in the nation’s sporting history – particularly for Gordon Hamilton.

Somewhat ironically, he earned his final Irish cap a year later against Australia but not long after this a prolapsed disc in his back tragically forced Gordon Hamilton into an early retirement from the game.

After his playing career, Gordon Hamilton has run a number of successful businesses including a shipping firm and an animal feed trading company. However, he is still involved in the game to some degree and until 2016 he was the Chairman of the Professional Game Boards at Ulster Rugby and the Irish Rugby Football Union.