Stephen 'Steve' Rule was born on the 5th of June 1952 in Bebington, Wirral and was educated at Wirral Grammar School and graduated from Loughborough College in 1973. There he played playing at fly-half for Loughborough Students RUFC and England Universities winning the Universities Athletic Union, Old Belvedere, Bridgend and Glasgow Sevens tournaments with Loughborough Students RUFC in 1973. Joining Sale RUFC, the fifth oldest surviving rugby club and the most prominent in the history of the North West, he represented Cheshire and had an England trial. He then turned professional with Salford in 1978 and was capped by Wales in 1981, qualifying through his grandparents who were born in Aberdare. In a match to remember on the 12th of January 1980, the game was nip and tuck all the way as goal kicking full back Steve Rule booted four conversions as Salford beat Saints at Knowsley Road 17-18. He jointly held, with Gus Risman and David Watkins, Salford's "Most goals in a game" record for some time, with 13-goals scored against Doncaster on the 4th of September 1981.
Steve moved to Saints in 1983, in a swap deal involving Peter Glynn, where he made 39 appearances and kicked 49 goals until he was released by St.Helens in 1985 after he sustained a neck injury in an 'A' Team game ironically against Salford. He represented England in the Bermuda Classic Tournament in 1989.
In 1991 he returned to Sale as a coach. At the time, anyone who had played rugby league
professionally were normally banned from any involvement in rugby union,
but Steve became one of the first English players to be re-instated by
the Rugby Football Union. Steve says, "After a break from rugby I went back to Union and coached at Sale from
1982-92. I took another break before returning to coach Lymm, New
Brighton and Macclesfield. I have coached the Cheshire County side since
2000, taking them to two National Finals and hopefully a third this
year. I used to see Harry Pinner from time to time as he had the Parr
Arms, a lovely pub in Grappenhall, a couple of miles away from where I
live in Lymm, although he has moved away since. I currently work for
Wigan Council as Head of the Pupil Referral Service, so I regularly have
some decent banter with the Pie Eaters!"
Steve Rule has
devoted much of his life to both codes of rugby and was a rugged and
courageous player and a competent kicker, who did a good job at
St.Helens in what was very much a transitional period at Knowsley Road.
see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2026/10/merseyside-for-sport-dennis-mortimer.html
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