And as MC he was monster fearless, despite being warned to be on his best behaviour around Frank. Everything was monster with Eric. Eric Hall, a flamboyant showbusiness and football agent famous for his big cigars and ‘monster, monster’ catchphrase, was compere, as usual. Silence. The club held its breath. The rival captains were two men who would become good friends, Billy Murdoch and WG Grace. The NCAA has no authority over men’s college rugby. And that might well have been that, and Jack Cowie could have retired with a Test bowling average of 16.71 but, at 37, he still had one last hurrah to come, in England in 1949. He didn’t smoke or drink, so that in part accounts for his longevity, but he was not quite the bowler he had been and his wickets were becoming a little less frequent, england shirts and a little more expensive.