Lloyd, Richard Averell (‘Dickie’) (1891–1950), rugby footballer, was born 4 August 1891 at Tamnamore, Dungannon, Co. Tyrone, son of Averell Lloyd, landowner of independent means, and Harriet Lloyd (née Erwin). He was educated at Royal School Armagh (1903–4) and Portora Royal School (1904–9). Captain of the Portora team that won the Ulster Senior Schools Cup in 1908 and 1909, he is considered to have been the best ever Irish schools' rugby player. He entered TCD in 1909 and played outhalf for Dublin University Football Club. With H. M. Read as his university and international halfback partner (the first such specialised combination in Ireland), he won the Leinster Senior Cup with TCD in 1912 and 1913. He formed a second partnership with Read on the cricket pitch as the two set a TCD record of a combined stand of 323 runs in one match. He scored eight centuries in three seasons for TCD and was captain in 1912. All this combined with appearances for the Gentlemen of Ireland team from 1910 to 1914. First capped for Ireland at rugby in a scoreless draw against England at Twickenham on 12 February 1910, he established a formidable reputation as a kicker of the ball. Ever accurate with penalties, drop goals, and conversions, he scored 73 points for Ireland and possessed a keen understanding of tactics and backline movement. Eleven times captain of Ireland, he was capped nineteen times, including one appearance in the record 38–0 defeat by South Africa at Lansdowne Road (30 November 1912). He graduated from TCD with a BA (1913) and joined a Liverpool firm of cotton brokers in 1914. Volunteering for service that year, he was commissioned in the ‘Liverpool Scottish’ – 10th (Scottish) Battalion, the King's (Liverpool Regiment) – and rose to the rank of captain. Injured in 1918, he was mistakenly reported missing in action. Returning to England after the war, he played rugby for Liverpool and cricket for Lancashire. His last international rugby season was in 1919, with his final game a first victory for France over Ireland (15–7) on 3 April 1920. In 1922 he refereed games between England and Scotland, and Scotland and Wales. He gave radio commentary for the BBC for rugby internationals in 1922 and acquired a reputation for graphic vocabulary as opposing teams reached Ireland's line. Retiring to Tamnamore the same year, he lived on a private income with his sister, Mrs Steele-Nicholson. An occasional coach of local schoolboys, he died on 23 December 1950 at Belfast's Royal Victoria Hospital.
Sources
E. H. D. Sewell, Rugby football up-to-date (1921); id., Rugby football to-day (1931); id., Rugger (1944); Ir. Times, Belfast News Letter, 27 Dec. 1950; Harry Read, ‘The Dicky Lloyd era’, Dublin University Football Club 1854–1954 (1954), 25–9; Dublin University Football Club 1860–1972 (1973); Sean Diffley, The men in green (1973); Edmund van Esbeck, One hundred years of Irish rugby (1974); M. H. A. Milne et al., A history of the Dublin University Cricket Club (1982); Terry Godwin, The international rugby championship (1984); Edmund Van Esbeck, The story of Irish rugby (1986); Terry Godwin, The complete who's who of international rugby (1987); John Scally, The giants of Irish rugby (1996)