Martin Alun Whitcombe (born 14 September 1961 in Keighley, West Riding of Yorkshire) is an English former rugby union footballer who played in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, and coached in the 2000s.
After passing out with the rank of corporal, Whitcombe was posted to RAF North Luffenham in Edith Weston and living in the market town of Uppingham.
He represented the Combined Services rugby team twelve times, including three games against the very competitive Joinville Battalion of the French Armed Forces.
Martin represented Leicester Tigers against the Wallabies at Welford Road on 25 November 1981; the Australian team was Captained by Mark Loane.
Whitcombe left Leicester in 1986 to join Bedford, captained by former Tigers player Andy Key, and played against Kenya in Nairobi as part of the clubs Centenary Season celebrations.
After leaving the RAF in 1987, Whitcombe accepted an opportunity to play in South Africa for Durban High School Old Boys, (DHSOB), a club he had represented in 1984.
DHSOB were led by former Natal hooker Don Spiers as chairman the team had some first class players including, the Blakeway brothers, Andrew & Lyle, Peter Edmonds and Greg Hamilton.
As a result of Whitcombe's move to South Africa Ian McIntosh the then Natal, (now Sharks), coach picked him to make his debut for the province along with his fellow prop Gerard Harding of Durban Harlequins and Empangeni number 8 Byron Kankowski to play for the provincial side against the touring Pacific Coast Grizzlys at Kings Park Stadium, Durban on 16 July 1988.
On 23 July Whitcombe made his Currie Cup debut in Round Nine at home against Transvaal (now the Golden Lions) in the winning Natal team 22–18.
Due to their breach of the Gleneagles Agreement both were declared undesirable alien's Persona non grata by Robert Mugabe's ZANU PF government as a result the tour was cancelled.
Later that year on 19 October 1988 Whitcombe played for Northern Division on the winning side against Nick Farr-Jones's Wallabies 21–9 at Cross Green Otley.
During the 1980s, Whitcombe worked with Zulu civilians to rebuild infrastructure destroyed by local clashes between the African National Congress and the Inkatha Freedom Party in South Africa's black townships.
This was finally granted on 10 November 2011 when a stone tablet designed by local artist David Ingham was unveiled by former RAF Bomber Command flight engineer Matt Holiday DFC with his friends Ian Walkden and Martin Whitcombe.