Tributes pour in for Irish legend Fergus Slattery, who 'represented rugby at its purest'

Blackrock RFC's Slattery was one of the greatest players to ever play for Ireland

Ireland rugby legend. Fergus Slattery. Picture:INPHO/Billy Stickland

Fergus Slattery, one of the greatest players to put on an Ireland jersey, has passed away.

The news was announced by Blackrock RFC on Thursday morning with a lengthy tribute to a man they remembered as “one of our greatest sons”. 

"There are players who wear a jersey, it read, and those who define it. “Fergus defined ours.” Few players burned as brightly on the rugby field as Slattery who was born in 1949 and won a Leinster Senior Schools Cup as part of a highly-rated Blackrock College side in 1966 before going on to join the club he would serve so well and for so long.

"All told, he won 61 caps for Ireland. 

Fergus Slattery of Ireland (centre) passes to Robbie McGrath (9) with Mike Kiernan and Ciaran Fitzgerald (2) in support against Wales in 1982. Picture: Mike Brett/Popperfoto/Getty Images

"He captained his country 18 times and he was key to the Triple Crown-winning sides of 1982 and 1985 and played on the Ireland side that claimed a famous Test series win in Australia in 1979.

Slattery played in an era of giants and he was up there with the best of them. 

"He toured with the British and Irish Lions on the most legendary tours of them all – to New Zealand in 1971 and South Africa in 1974.

"There were, on top of all that, 18 appearances for the Barbarians, including the most famous Baa Baas game of them all, against the All Blacks in Cardiff Arms Park in 1973 when he was one of the players to light up a still famous occasion.

"For all that, it is his club’s testament to the man that stands out even more than the player.

"He represented rugby at its purest."

Fergus Slattery, left, and Tom Kiernan, Ireland rugby. Picture credit: SPORTSFILE

Blackrock’s statement described someone who embodied the very best of their traditions with “courage, intelligence, humility, and absolute commitment to the team beside him. Statistics and honours, it said, could never truly capture him.

Slattery sometimes turned out for Blackrock the day after featuring for Ireland in the Five Nations. He won a Fox Cup/7th Division medal with them in a career that stretched into the late 80s and on into tag rugby.

There was fundraising and an insistence that his fee for working with BBC Radio be made directly to Blackrock.

Fergus Slattery with his wife Margot, his son Cameron and daughter Nikki in 2023. Picture: INPHO/Billy Stickland

It was revealed just over three years ago that Slattery had been diagnosed with dementia.

He is survived by his wife Margo, daughter Nikki, son Cameron and grandchildren.