Ken Goodall: Ken Goodall's death at the age of 59 has shocked the Ulster and Irish rugby community.
In unlocking the pantheon of great Irish rugby players, the City of Derry, Ulster, Ireland and Lions number eight would rub shoulders with the best that this country could muster.
Educated at Foyle College, the 6ft 3in, 14 stone, number eight made his debut for Ireland as a 19-year-old on January 21st, 1967. Australia were the visitors to Lansdowne Road. Indeed Goodall would face the Wallabies three times in a 21-month period in 1967 and 1968, finishing on the winning side on each occasion.
In beating the Australians at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Ireland became the first team to win in the Southern Hemisphere.
A product of the City of Derry rugby club, Goodall studied chemical engineering at Newcastle University, a student in the northeast of England when winning his first cap for Ireland.
He went on to play in 19 consecutive internationals for Ireland, establishing himself as the outstanding number eight in the Five Nations Championship while also acquitting himself well against Australia and South Africa. Superbly athletic he was arguably a prototype for the modern number eight.
Originally selected for the 1968 Lions tour to South Africa, Goodall couldn't travel because of exam commitments but would subsequently join the tour as a replacement for Welsh legend Barry John. The selectors felt that having a second number eight in the party would be more beneficial than to call upon another outhalf.
However, Goodall's Lions career did not last long after he broke a bone in his hand during his first game against Eastern Transvaal and had to return home again. During his tenure as Ireland's first choice number eight his ability was acknowledged by team-mate and foe alike, manifest in the suggestion by Welsh backrow icon Mervyn Davies that: "If Ken Goodall hadn't gone to rugby league, I don't think you'd ever have heard of Mervyn Davies."
Goodall's last game in a green Irish shirt was on March 14th, 1970, marking the occasion with a brilliant individual try from his own half. Economic pressures saw the 23-year-old take up an offer to play for English rugby league club Workington Town, who vacillated between the First and Second Divisions.
Before crowds of 1,500 supporters Goodall made an instant impact scoring a try in each of his first 11 games for the club. He became a target for unscrupulous opponents who didn't care how they stopped him. One former opponent was moved to remark in admiration: "It was like tackling a bag of chisels." The wear-and-tear on his 14-stone frame was manifest in a spinal fusion operation and he eventually retired from the sport in 1974 and returned to Derry. Because he'd played league he wasn't allowed to coach or be involved with a rugby union club and he recalled on his return, standing out on the road watching his beloved City of Derry play so as not to cause any embarrassment to the club.
When professionalism was introduced into rugby union he was officially reinstated by the IRFU and regularly attended international matches at Lansdowne Road. He was a wonderful player, one of Ireland's best ever.
Goodall retired a few years ago as vice-principal of Faughan Valley Primary School. He leave a wife, Wilma, son Gareth and daughter Gail.
Kenneth George Goodall, Irish international and Lions rugby player: born February 23rd, 1947; died August 17th, 2006