MY LIFE IN RUGBY

Istarted the 1984 Grand Slam with a split pair of boots and ended it with a bust eye.

We’d won only one match the year before – down at Twickenham in the final game – but we were ready to create some history having picked up confidence from the Scots players who’d been on the ’83 Lions tour to New Zealand and then from our 25-25 draw against the All Blacks in November.

Our forwards were incredible against the All Blacks, I’d never seen a performance like it. They were throwing bodies into rucks and doing to them what they did to everyone else. We just couldn’t switch off and even when our lungs were burning we had to keep going.

I suppose a draw was a fair result. To the day I die I don’t think we’ll ever know if my kick from the touchline to win the game was good. It went higher than the posts and maybe if we’d had TMOs in those days...

The Grand Slam started out in Cardiff. The last two kicks went over with my big toe hanging out! I was superstitious – I always had honey on toast before games – so I didn’t want to wear new boots and had had them repaired.

After Wales, we had England at home and then it was off to Ireland for the Triple Crown. That was as enjoyable a game as I’ve ever played in. It was howling a gale straight down the pitch and we built up a 22-0 lead with the wind at our backs in the first half before defending for our lives.

It was all on the line when we played a very good French team at Murrayfield in the final game. I took a knee to the eye early on after getting myself in an awkward position trying to tackle Serge Blanco. It closedup immediately and I missed my first kick at goal. I remember our captain, Jim Aitken saying, ‘one more and that’s your lot’. Thankfully, the adrenaline took over from the pain and shock and I was able to settle back into the game. Everything else went over.

My Gala teammate, David Leslie, was outstanding that day. It takes someone special to keep Jean-Pierre Rives quiet and I think that won us the game.

There were no ticker tape parades or anything like that back then, it was back to work in Gala on the Monday as normal – in my case as a joiner. At lunchtime I popped out for some rolls and the women in the baker’s, on seeing my black eye, said, ‘have you been in a fight?’ She had no idea I’d played in a Grand Slamwinning Scotland side that weekend.

I spent a lot of time on the bench from ’86 onwards as understudy to Gavin Hastings. I never had a problem with Gav; he was and still is a friend. He was a good, long kicker. He had a lot more bulk than me, which suited the way the game was going. I still had a great time and went on some wonderful tours.

The rugby and some of the facilities in Zimbabwe might not have been of the highest standard in 1988 – we once had a post-match bath in a cutout oil drum – but the hospitality most definitely was. We stayed with local families instead of hotels and it was a marvellous experience for all concerned. I think the absence of proper tours is what’s missing from modern-day rugby. They help bring the young guys on and leave you in no doubt what it means to be a Scotland player.

Injury ruled Gav out of the 1989 Five Nations and I was able to press my claim for a place on the Lions tour to Australia that summer. I played well and both of us, to my surprise, ended up making the trip. Unfortunately, I picked up an early niggle and that affected my form, but it was still great to play in the midweek side captained by Donal Lenihan; we wore our ‘Donal’s Doughnuts’ t-shirts with pride.