If in life in general there are very few occasions when the description 'End of an Era' can be used with full justification, then they are even rarer in sport. One such occasion will happen in four weeks' time at London Irish when Justin Bishop leaves the club to move on to the next stage of his career.
<1r>With Justin's departure London Irish loses its last, direct playing link with the pre-professional era. More than that, the club loses a part of its recent history and a truly remarkable player.
Twelve years after the game went open in 1995, of the 450 plus players contracted to the 12 Guinness Premiership clubs this season, Justin is only one of three that has the dual distinction of starting in their club's first competitive match in the 1995-96 season, the first of the professional era, and has then remained with that club as a player to this day. (The other two are Lawrence Dallaglio of Wasps and Richard Hill of Saracens).
Born in Crawley in West Sussex, Justin excelled in two sports at Sackville School ' squash and rugby. While he was ranked in the top ten in England in the former, it was the influence of his maternal grandfather, Thomas Dunn, an Ireland international in the late 1930s that made him choose rugby.
Having achieved what he could at his local club, East Grinstead, he first came to the Capital to London Welsh (!) to further measure his talent. That was when his Mum intervened and he switched to Irish at Sunbury. At the time he was 13.
Having committed to rugby he made an immediate impression. With his pace and skill he made an impact for the Exiles and played for the club through his time at the University of the West of England in Bristol. He played for London Division at Under 19 and Under 21 level, captaining both sides.
Justin made his Ireland Under 21 debut against England in 1995, but the following March he played for England Under 21s against Italy and that summer he played for England Students in the World Cup in South Africa. After that he declared for Ireland and during the summer of 1997 he toured New Zealand and Western Samoa with the Development Squad. An 'A' cap followed against Canada at Ravenhill in November of that year.
In the summer of 1998 Justin was called into the full Ireland squad in South Africa. He was selected for the test team to play the Springboks in Bloemfontein on 13th June and had a dream debut scoring his first international try within 19 minutes of kick-off! In 1999 he went on to make the right wing position his own, playing in a sequence of 13 of Ireland's 14 tests and scoring tries against Italy, Australia and the USA.
<3>Justin made 25 appearances for Ireland including playing in the World Cup against Argentina in 1999. He scored a total of eight international tries.
His professional career at London Irish has embraced the domestic League and Cup competitions in all their guises, and in Europe, what are now the Challenge Cup and the Heineken Cup. He has made 279 appearances for the club, a total that is unlikely to be surpassed in the foreseeable future. He has scored 58 tries, registering 290 points in the process.
After 20 years he is about to draw the curtains on his London Irish career. His club coaches have included Hika Reid, Sir Clive Woodward, Willie Anderson, Dick Best, Brendan Venter, Gary Gold, Paul Hull and Brian Smith ' an impressive list by any standard.
In talking about his coaches over the years Justin said, 'You learn something from all of them. While you adapt your personal views on how the game should be played in the interests of the team, you must retain that part of you that is a free spirit. You should have the confidence to go with what you believe in. I like to put my own stamp on a game.'
Two decades at the top brings maturity and that means lots of memories for Justin, memories of both players and places. 'Gary Halpin (the former London Irish and Ireland prop forward and captain) what a legend!' Justin recalled not long ago. 'He was the mainframe around which the team functioned. Paul Flood, Jeremy Davidson, Mark McCall, now coach of Ulster, and Brendan Venter, there were so many great players and characters.'
<2r>As to the places, 'Too many to list but Sunbury will always be special. I remember my first senior games there playing against the likes of Harlequins with Will Carling and Leicester with Dean Richards. And Lansdowne Road and Twickenham, of course. The Powergen Cup Final there was the biggest day in my playing career.' Indeed, London Irish supporters will always remember him for his double try-scoring performance in that victory over Northampton Saints in April 2002.
Justin has personified London Irish in so many ways. A true clubman - fiercely loyal, committed to the club and team; a consummate professional - first to training and last to leave; the archetypical 100 per cent man ' always giving of his best, always cajoling his team mates, always seeking the highest standards. Always an encouraging word for a player whether he was a mini, junior or senior ' amateur or professional, and in recent years for the young Academy players starting out. And last but not least, always a great ambassador for the club and the game.
And so Justin moves on to the next stage of his distinguished rugby career as a player/coach with Doncaster Knights. He leaves with the sincere thanks and good wishes of all the London Irish family.