Scott Hastings death: His contribution to Scottish rugby cannot be overestimated

His death at the age of 61 while undergoing cancer treatment robs the rugby community of one of its great characters who was a brilliantly effective centre for Watsonians, Edinburgh, Scotland and the British and Irish Lions.

Hastings will be forever remembered as a key member of the great 1990 Grand Slam side and his try-saving tackle on Rory Underwood in the decisive match against England at Murrayfield remains etched in the memory. Scott, and his brother Gavin, three years his senior, became mainstays of that Scotland side, having made their debut together against France in 1986. They would go on to become the first brothers to play together in a Lions Test side.

If Gavin, a full-back and prodigious goalkicker, became the poster body for Scottish rugby, Scott was an outstanding player in his own right. Defensively excellent, he was a formidable tackler but no slouch going forward and always committed to playing attacking rugby.

A very rounded rugby player, he came to the position of centre relatively late in his career but made it his own and by the time he stepped away from Test rugby in 1997 he had won 65 caps for his country, which was then a record.

In accumulating this total, Scott moved past Gavin’s haul of 61 but the older brother was never slow to point out that he won six caps for the Lions to Scott’s two, meaning they are tied on 67 Test caps in total.

The Hastings boys grew up in a rugby-playing family in Edinburgh, and there were four brothers in total, the oldest of whom, Graeme, blazed a trail for his younger siblings. He captained Scottish Schools and went on to play for Watsonians and Scotland Under-21 side before emigrating to Australia.

Their father, Clifford, played for Watsonians and the Myreside club is inextricably linked to the Hastings name. Scott was a star of the school team at George Watson’s College and then headed to Newcastle to study at the city’s polytechnic. His rugby education continued with the Newcastle Northern club where he featured mainly at stand-off.

He won representative honours for Northumberland, the Anglo-Scots and Scotland U21 before returning home to Edinburgh in 1985 to play for Watsonians. With Gavin based in England at this point, Scott found himself playing at full-back as the Watsonians centre pairing was David Johnston and Euan Kennedy, members of Scotland’s Grand Slam winning team of 1984.

The pair would prove to be a big influence on Scott when he made the move into the centre.

The breakthrough for him came when he was selected for the Reds (possibles) against the Blues (probables) in the annual international trial at Murrayfield ahead of the 1986 Five Nations. Gavin was also playing and Scott revelled in their sudden elevation to the big time.

“I celebrated my 21st birthday in December, Christmas came and went, we walked into the trial and, bang - the Reds stuffed the Blues,” he told Kevin Ferrie for his book, Scotland’s All Time Rugby Greats.

It was a performance that made the Scotland selectors sit up and take notice and both Hastings brothers were picked for the opening match against France at Murrayfield. It couldn’t have gone any better. Up against Philippe Sella, the legendary France centre, Scott excelled while Gavin kicked six penalties for all of Scotland’s points in an 18-17 victory. Scott reckoned later that it was only his third game at centre.

His first Scotland try came a month later in a thumping 33-6 home win over England in the Calcutta Cup. The Scots would end the Five Nations with a narrow in over Ireland in Dublin and shared the title with France, their only defeat coming against Wales in Cardiff.

The Hastings brothers had arrived. Injury would prevent Scott from any meaningful involvement in the inaugural Rugby World Cup in New Zealand in 1987 but his progress wouldn’t be stymied. The arrival from New Zealand of Sean Lineen would provide Scott with a new centre partner which would help elevate Scotland to new heights. But before that, there was the Lions.

Led by two Scots, coach Ian McGeechan and captain Finlay Calder, the 1989 tourists defeated Australia 2-1, becoming the first in Lions history to lose the first Test and win the series. Scott Hastings missed the first Test through injury but was selected for the remaining two, forming a centre pairing with Jeremy Guscott which proved too strong for the Wallabies.

In the deciding Test match in Sydney, Scott made a crucial tackle on David Campese which prevented a try as the Lions went on to win 19-18.

The Scots in the Lions party returned from Australia emboldened. They knew they were the equal of their home nations counterparts and it helped sow the seeds for the 1990 Grand Slam.

Scott’s performances had caught the eye, and not just in rugby union. “The rugby league offers started coming in but I told them I wanted to win the Grand Slam first," said Hastings.

He duly did. Scotland, under the tutelage of McGeechan and Jim Telfer, beat Ireland, France and Wales to set up a winner-takes-all decider against England at Murrayfield. It remains Scotland’s finest hour, the 13-7 victory delivering a Five Nations Slam amid scenes of great joy in Edinburgh.

Scott was a huge part of the team, an effervescent character who leant the midfield pace, toughness and drive, and was the perfect foil for Lineen.

He would help Scotland reach the World Cup semi-finals a year later and another Lions tour followed, to New Zealand in 1993, but a broken cheekbone ruled him out of the Test series.

His tackling was so impressive that there was sometimes a tendency to overlook his attacking abilities but he was nothing if not a team man.

“I’d like to think of myself as a players’ player,” he said, “though maybe not as greedy as I could have been, but running off the ball, supporting the ball carrier.”

His contribution to Scottish rugby cannot be overestimated.