Former Lansdowne player Bill ‘Cooperman’ Cooper passed away in September of this year and we came across this lovely tribute to him recently written by his nephew John Fogarty.

John writes: ‘Bill’s sport was rugby and he was bona fide Lunster. Aside from his mother’s influence, his years playing as a pup for Lansdowne alongside Moss Keane, who he revered, made a deep impression on him. At his funeral, his best friend and former Ireland prop Tom Clancy spoke eloquently about Bill whose pride in Tom representing his country was infectious. Tom had a pre-match ritual of tumbling head over heels onto the pitch and blessing himself.”

You can read the rest of John’s article about Bill HERE