For 17 seasons, a rugby innovator and most successful UBC rugby coach. Record includes five consecutive Canada West championships, four consecutive World Cups and six consecutive Pacific Northwest titles.
Entering UBC in 1952, Donn Spence, with a strong football and rugby background, joined coach Albert Laithwaite's UBC Thunderbird rugby team as a freshman. This was the beginning of a memorable athletic career at UBC, as both a rugby and football player and as this school's most successful rugby coach.
As a Thunderbird rugby player from 1952 until 1955, Spence earned four Big Block awards as he was a key player in both McKechnie and World Cup competitions as well as against UBC opposition such as Belfast, New Zealand All-Blacks, Oxford and Cambridge. Spence also starred on the 1954 and '55 UBC Thunderbird football and baseball teams earning Big Block awards in both sports. Described as a "ferocious runner", Spence made up for lack of size with tenacity and toughness.
After graduating from UBC with a Physical Education degree 1956, "Spider" embarked upon a teaching career at West Vancouver High School, teaching and coaching from September 1956 until Spring 1967. At that point (1967) Spence was appointed to the UBC School of Physical Education and Recreation and was named head Thunderbird rugby coach - the beginning of the "glory days" of UBC rugby's modern era. In fact Spence's UBC rugby team played the BC Reps in the very first game of any kind at the brand new Thunderbird Stadium - October 7, 1967.
The next 17 seasons, 1967 until his untimely death in 1984, Spence excelled as a clinician, selector and coach. "He had a good eye for talent" offers a former player. "He nurtured that talent - he got the best from his players". The best indeed! His UBC teams showered themselves with championships including McKechnie Cups (BC champions), World Cups, Canada West championships, Pacific Northwest Conference titles and Pacific Coast University championships. Two of Spence's teams – the 1970/71 and 74/75 squads are arguably the two best in UBC rugby history. He coached the 70/71 team, considered at the time to be "without question the finest team in Canada, if not North America", to an amazing 21-1 record. This team is the only rugby team thus far, to be inducted into the UBC Sports Hall of Fame, with many of its players giving Spence the credit. His 1974/75 team was Canada West, McKechnie Cup and World Cup champions with a 20-2 record, receiving BC's 1975 Amateur Team of the Year award at the prestigious Sport BC annual awards banquet.
By 1977, Spence and his teams had dominated its competition, winning five consecutive Canada West championships, four consecutive World Cups and six consecutive Pacific Northwest Intercollegiate titles. According to rugby contemporaries, "Spence was innovative, he was responsible for a number of changes including turning UBC' s game into an exciting wide- open style of play."
In addition to coaching Thunderbird rugby, he was also named as coach of the BC provincial rugby team in 1972. During the next three years, Spence's provincial team gained valuable international experience while winning the Canadian inter-provincial championship in 1974. His thorough preparation of players and teams for the international arena earned Donn the appointment in 1976 as Canadian National Team head coach.
Spence held numerous clinics for both players and coaches and served as a selector for both the BC and Canadian Rugby Unions. In addition he chaired several provincial and national coaching advisory committees. His influence was not just on the field as he served on the executive of both the Vancouver and BC rugby leagues and was president of the Northwest Intercollegiate Rugby Conference.
1982/83 was yet another vintage year for Spence and UBC rugby. An incredible 26-1-2 record plus both the McKechnie Cup and the Pacific Coast University Conference championship proved once again the great UBC rugby teams just kept on coming.
1983/84 was the last season for or the 54-year-old coach Spence, as he died suddenly in the spring of '84. With difficult shoes to fill, Barry Legh, a former player under Spence, took over the UBC coaching reigns for 84/85.
A Vancouver and UBC athlete, the Blue and Gold was truly blessed for 17 years, to have in Donn Spence such an accomplished coach, serving to nurture and enhance a flourishing UBC rugby program.
Researched and written by Fred Hume, UBC Athletics Historian
