| Birth name | Stephen Begley | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 4 April 1975 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Chatham, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of death | 10 September 2017 (aged 42) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of death | Bukit Merah, Singapore | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) [1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 110 kg (17 st 5 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Stephen Begley (4 April 1975 − 10 September 2017) was a Scottish [2] rugby union player who played for Glasgow Warriors and Glasgow Hawks at the Lock position.
Beglay was born in Chatham, Kent, England and grew up in the Isle of Sheppey. [3] He had a grandmother from Gourock. [4]
Begley played for the amateur club Glasgow Academicals. [5] [6] [7] [8] When the Accies merged with Glasgow High Kelvinside to form the Glasgow Hawks in 1997, he then played for the Glasgow Hawks. [9] [10] [11]
For a short spell, Begley played for Old Belvedere RFC in Dublin, Ireland. [12]
After moving back from France, Begley played for Watsonians [13] before moving back to Hawks. [14]
Begley was back with the Glasgow Hawks in 2003 [15] via a short spell back at Glasgow Academicals. [16] His try for the Hawks clinched the BT Premiership title for them in 2004 against Heriots. Hawks became the first ever west of Scotland team to win the Scottish title, [17] in 30 years of effort. [18] Heriots had approached Begley to play for them in 1996. [19] The next year 2005 Hawks almost wrapped up the title against Heriots at Goldenacre with Begley again scoring a try. [20] The 2006 title was almost made certain at Currie. [21]
Begley left Glasgow Hawks in 2006. [22]
Begley played in the amateur Glasgow District side at Under 21 grade. [23] He played several times for the professional side Glasgow in Europe. [24] [25] As the Lock named for Warriors first match as a professional team - against Newbridge in the European Challenge Cup - Begley has the distinction of being given Glasgow Warrior No. 4 for the provincial side.
Begley played rugby in London and Cape Town. [2] The Cape Town side was Hamilton RFC, Sea Point. Begley played for them in the nineties and then turned out for them as a guest player when Hamilton, Sea Point entered a Sevens team in the Melrose Sevens in 2011. Begley turned out for them in the precursor Veterans Tens tournament which then the Cape Town side went on to win. [26] Begley was selected for the Scottish Exiles District team. [12]
He played for the French rugby clubs Lyon, [27] RC Strasbourg and Brive. [1] [2]
He played for the Scotland Under 19s [28] and Scotland Under 21s [5] [29] and hoped for a call up to Scotland A. [2]
Begley died while competing in Singapore International Triathlon at East Coast Park on 10 September 2017. [30] [31] A medical team on shore gave CPR but it was to be in vain as Begley was pronounced dead at Singapore General Hospital. [3]