Obituary: Peter James Colston

A centre, and latterly a full-back in his playing days, he was a pioneer in coaching at a time when many in rugby union viewed such activity with suspicion. Such was his success in coaching Bristol that he went on to coach England.

Peter James Colston was educated at St Brendan’s College before going on to train as a teacher at St Mary’s College, Twickenham. While he was there he captained a very successful rugby XV before returning to Bristol. He taught at St Thomas More School and at St Brendan’s, played for St Brendan’s Old Boys and made his Bristol first team debut against Devonport Services in November 1957. He was awarded his Bristol United cap at the end of the 1959-60 season, his first team cap in 1960-61 and his club blazer a year later. Peter was a key member of skipper John Blake’s great team of this period, when the club played a revolutionary fifteen-man style of rugby which became known as ‘Bristol Fashion.’ A classic game of this period was the 25-13 defeat of a very good Northampton side on Easter Monday 1960, and Peter, playing in the centre, was a try-scorer in this match.

Peter was a fine player, noted for his excellent positioning, handling and tackling, not to mention his all-round reading of a game. He was Derek Neate’s vice-captain during Bristol’s 75^th Anniversary season in 1962-63, before taking on the captaincy himself for the next two seasons. During his time as Bristol’s captain he played at full back for Western Counties against New Zealand on the Memorial Ground in December 1963, an exciting match which the tourists won 22-14. In the same season he was a member of the Gloucestershire side which reached the semi-final of the County Championship, losing in Bristol to Lancashire.

Peter featured in all but ten of Bristol’s games during his first season of captaincy, but he was less fortunate in 1964-65, missing numerous games through injury. Derek Neate regained the Bristol captaincy in 1965-66, and Peter, who had external examinations to sit, informed the club selectors that he was available to play only in emergencies. However, with Neate ill and vice-captain Jim Glover on holiday, Peter was asked to captain the team in the opening match. He ended up leading the season’s appearances, missing only five of Bristol’s 47 fixtures. This was a brilliant season in which Bristol were winners of the Sunday Telegraph English Merit Table.

Peter Colston won twelve caps for Gloucestershire, but in 1965-66 he switched allegiance and appeared for Somerset. This was his last major season as a player, though he still featured in matches after this. His final first team game was at Camborne in April 1967. In all he played 252 first team games, scoring 21 tries, one conversion and two drop goals. This alone would have been sufficient to cement his status as one of Bristol’s greats, but even greater success awaited him as a coach. It was the tradition at the time for Bristol’s captain, whoever he might be, to supervise training sessions, but when Dave Rollitt was appointed captain in 1969-70 he wanted to concentrate on developing his own game. Recognising Peter’s qualities, he invited him to become Bristol’s first official coach, and together they forged a brilliant side which played a thrilling brand of attacking rugby. The team scored a club record 908 points in Peter’s first season as coach, and two seasons later, under the captaincy of Tony Nicholls, Bristol won both the Sunday Telegraph English and English/Welsh Merit Tables, scoring over 1,000 points in the process. A further English Merit Table title followed two years later.

Peter was soon in demand as more and more clubs came to realise the value of proper coaching. He held regular courses for aspiring coaches at Bisham Abbey and Lilleshall, and he introduced coaching awards. Carwyn James, the legendary Llanelli and Lions coach was a great admirer of his methods, and as the coaching bug spread, Peter was invited to supervise sessions in Germany. Among the many innovations which Peter pioneered was the use of the hooker, rather than a winger, to throw the ball in at lineouts. In the fullness of time the RFU invited Peter to chair its coaching advisory panel, and in 1973 he became coach of England Under 23s. He then moved on to coach the full national side from 1975 until 1979. This of course meant that he had to relinquish his coaching role at Bristol, but he remained devoted to the club and later served as chairman in the early 1980s.

Peter Colston was also a very good cricketer, featuring in Bristol Rugby sides which won the Knowle Six-a-Side tournament. Peter continued his involvement with Bristol throughout the rest of his life. He was, until quite recently, the president of the Bristol Rugby Former Players, and he was a regular presence at reunions. He was especially passionate about the annual Service of Remembrance at the Memorial Stadium, an occasion which meant a great deal to him. All at Bristol Bears send their sincere sympathy to Peter’s family at this very sad time.