Swansea RFC are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of former ‘All Whites’ & Wales prop forward Ian Buckett aged 56. (Swansea RFC Legacy number 2210).
Hailing from Holywell in North Wales, Ian also played for Flint RFC, Rhyl & District, London Welsh and Oxford University and gained international honours for Wales at U15’s, U18’s & U21’s as well as representing North Wales, West Wales, Wales Students, Wales B, Wales A and the full national Wales team.
Ian joined Swansea in 1988 as a 20 year old and made his debut on October 15th of the same year against Leicester Tigers in a 36-16 victory at St. Helen’s. He went on to make a total of 186 appearances for Swansea scoring 3 tries (one being the quickest ever recorded by a replacement in a Heineken Cup match against Wasps in 1997) and had 3 international Welsh caps. He was also selected to play more times on television than any other UK player between 1992-1995.
In the early 1990s while a student at Swansea University Ian played in a BUCS rugby final at Twickenham and captained Wales in a Students World Cup in Italy. After graduating from Swansea he studied at Oxford and gained his ‘Blue’ in the Varsity match. He later qualified as a solicitor.
All at Swansea RFC pass on their sincere condolences to all family and friends of Ian who was a well liked personality and will be sadly missed by all.