Australian rugby is mourning the passing of Peter Horton, the no-nonsense hooker who played 19 Tests for the Wallabies in the 1970s.
Horton was 81.
The London-born Horton was a significant figure in a number of 1970s triumphs that set Australian rugby on the path to even greater successes in the 1980s and beyond.
He was the hooker in the highly-combustible 2-0 series sweep over England in 1975 which began with the original Battle of Ballymore when fists flew in a wild opening.
For a man who loved the history of sport and wrote extensively on it, Dr Peter Horton was part of plenty himself.
He was again the technical figure at the heart of the front-row when Wales were toppled 2-0 in 1978. Later that year, he shared in the Wallabies' then-record 30-16 victory over the All Blacks at Auckland's Eden Park.
In 1979, he relished his role in one of Australia's greatest moments when the Bledisloe Cup was regained at the SCG with a mighty pack performance against the All Blacks.
He was already in his 20s when he migrated to Australia and forged a path into representative rugby with NSW Country, a powerhouse of the time, while based in Newcastle.
He played for NSW in the early 1970s, made his Test debut against the All Blacks in the 1974 series as Wallaby No. 569 and played for Queensland when moving to Brisbane.
He played with the Teachers-Norths club in Brisbane for two seasons.
He was already 31 when he began this second stage of his career in the Queensland team in 1977, the same season that two other great mates from NSW Country, Greg Cornelsen and Geoff Shaw, did the same.
With those two as teammates, Horton had been part of the famous "Up-The-Jumper" try in 1975 when NSW Country pulled their iconic tap move to beat City at the death in Sydney.
"Peter was certainly a character of rugby and a fine contributor, not just with his own game but getting the best out of others," said Damien Barker, his coach at Teachers-Norths in 1977 and 1978.
"I know a few props who had long lectures from him about the art of the scrum. Throwing the ball into the lineout was an art form for Peter.
"There was no backward step in the way he played the game for his club, NSW Country, NSW, Queensland or the Wallabies."
Horton was an educator of renown who taught in England, Australia and Singapore in schools and universities.
After his Test career, Horton undertook further studies. He lectured at QUT, Griffith University and Townsville's James Cook University as well as taking up an opportunity in Singapore.
He taught at Brisbane Boys' College and was First XV coach for a time. His cerebral approach brought them unstuck on one occasion.
He liked his First XV to run on last, almost delaying the kick-off, to get the opposition waiting and fretting.
On one occasion, the late Kerry Fitzgerald, as referee, would have none of the mind games and had a penalty against BBC waiting for them when they finally got into position for the kick-off.
A former Wallaby teammate remembers another Horton moment against Argentina in Buenos Aires in 1979. Horton was whacked about the head and back with a touch judge's flag so peeved was the official at the Wallaby hooker backpedalling his sprigs into the official's legs as a get-square for a dodgy refereeing effort earlier in the tour.
His passion for rugby was lasting. For The International Journal of the History of Sport, he wrote lengthy works on themes as diverse as Pacific Islanders in Global Rugby: The Changing Currents of Sports Migration and International Rugby Comes to Queensland (1888 and 1889).
He was also a regional services manager for the 2003 Rugby World Cup.
