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Tue 05 May 2007Distinguished player, coach and columnistDeath of Jimmy Davidson:  Jimmy Davidson, the former Ulster and Ireland player and coach, has died aged 64. He passed away peacefully on Saturday after a long battle with illness. He was often described as a coach ahead of his time, and having been lost prematurely to coaching, albeit to establish himself as an acerbic and opinionated analyst on BBC Northern Ireland and columnist, now he has been lost to life far too early as well.Davidson, or "Jimmy D", as he became affectionately known, was born in Armagh on October 23rd, 1942 and grew up in Weston-Super-Mare in Somerset. Educated at St Brendan's College in Bristol, he played flanker for the England Schoolboys, under-15, 17 and 19s before studying geography at Queen's University.