for most of his professional career. He was Chief Architect and Head of their Premises Division when he retired.
Dawson joined Wanderers F.C. in August 1950 and played his club rugby on the 1st XV between 1950 and 1965, was Captain for the 1955–56 season and Coach/Selector from 1964 to 1968. He was a member of the administrative Executive Committee from 1962 until he retired in 1994. He was President of the club for the 1991–92 season.
Dawson played provincial rugby 28 times for Leinster between 1958 and 1964 (during which he captained the side), was president during the 1972–73 season and was an administrator on the Leinster Branch Executive Committee from May 1965 until he retired in 1986.
Ireland
Dawson won the first of his 27 Irish caps in 1958, a match in which Ireland beat Australia and Ronnie scored a try – this being his only try and indeed points scored in an Irish jersey. Ronnie was Captain of the side on 11 occasions between 1958 and 1962 (including Captaining the 1961 Irish tour to South Africa) and retired from International rugby in 1964 (Ireland lost 6–27 to France in Colombes on 11 Apr 1964).
Dawson was a keen member of the Barbarians, playing 22 times on their Easter Tour and other matches between 1956 and 1965 (including the 1957 tour to South Africa). He selected and played for the Barbarians against several incoming touring teams, including Australia (1958), South Africa (1961 – being Captain of the only team to beat the 1961 Springboks) and New Zealand (1964). He was also a member of the Barbarians Committee for a number of years.
which the lions won 6–9, and remains the only victory home nations players have enjoyed in Eden Park (save for the victorious 1973 English team). He was unavailable as a player for the 1962 Lions tour to South Africa.
Administrator
Dawson was Assistant Manager/Coach in 1968 for the Lions tour to South Africa and was also a Lions selector.
Following his retirement from playing rugby union at the highest level, Dawson was instrumental in developing coaching of the game in Ireland, setting up coaching structures and was the first Irish coach – a role he undertook between 1969 and 1972 (including Coach to the 1970 Irish tour to Argentina). He was an International Selector from 1968 to 1972.
Dawson also moved into administration and was elected to the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) Executive Committee in June 1970 and was President of the IRFU for the 1989–90 season (prior to his retirement from the IRFU Committee in 1994). He is now a Trustee of the IRFU.
Dawson was an Irish representative on the (as it was then)
International Rugby Board from 1974 to 1994 (being Chairman in 1983), was a member of the Rugby World Cup Organising Committee (for the first RWC tournament
) in 1987 and the International Rugby Settlement (RWC Ltd.) between 1990–'94.
His lifetime contribution to the game of rugby union was acknowledged by the
IRB Hall of Fame
.
His achievements were also recognised by the Dublin Institute of Technology (his alma mater), who conferred on him an Honorary Doctorate (Doctor of Philosophy) on 1 November 2014, in St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin.
Note 1: Robert Seddon died on tour after a boating accident. Andrew Stoddart became captain for the remainder of the tour.
Note 2: Matthew Mullineux decided that after losing the first test that he should withdraw from further test matches, handing on field captaincy to Frank Stout, but remained tour captain. Note 3: David Bedell-Sivright was injured during the first test. Teddy Morgan took over captaincy on the field but Bedell-Sivright remained tour captain. Note 4: The team that John Raphael captained was not selected by the four Home Nations governing body, but had been organised by Oxford University and billed as the English Rugby Union team. However, it was considered the Combined British team by Argentina because it also included three Scots. Note 5: Jack Jones was captain for the first test, but Tommy Smyth remained the tour captain. Note 6: Bleddyn Williams captained in the third and fourth tests v New Zealand and the first test v Australia. Note 7: Cliff Morgan captained in the third test. Note 8: David Watkins captained in the second and foruth tests v New Zealand. Note 9: Michael Owen captained the Lions in the first tour game, the test vs. Argentina in Cardiff. Brian O'Driscoll was injured at the beginning of the first test against New Zealand. Gareth Thomas replaced him as tour captain. Note 10: Sam Warburton was injured in the second test. Alun Wyn Jones replaced him as captain for the third test. Note 11: Tour captain Sam Warburton was named on the bench for the first test. Peter O'Mahony was the captain on the field.
Note 12: Tour captain Alun Wyn Jones left the squad for 17 days due to an injury in the first warm-up match, and was replaced by Conor Murray temporarily.