Tributes to coach who guided Scotland to biggest ever win over England

Grant, who has died at the age of 86, took charge of the national team between 1985 and 1988, giving the likes of Gavin Hastings, Scott Hastings, Finlay Calder and David Sole their debuts.

He was coach for the inaugural Rugby World Cup in 1987 when Scotland went through the pool stage unbeaten before losing to eventual winners New Zealand in the quarter-finals.

His playing days as a combative back-row forward with Hawick saw him capped 14 times between 1965 and 1968 and his performances for Scotland earned him a call-up for the 1966 British and Irish Lions tour of Australia and New Zealand. Injury curtailed his involvement but he still represented the Lions 10 times.

Credited as an innovative coach, Grant had cut his teeth initially with the Hawick Trades junior club, before enjoying great success with Hawick, guiding them to five successive Scottish club championship titles from the inauguration of official leagues in 1973-74.

He worked alongside Jim Telfer with the South in the inter-district championship then moved into the national set-up, initially with the Scotland B team.

In 1983, he became assistant coach to Colin Telfer with Scotland, helping steer them to a rare victory against England at Twickenham. Jim Telfer returned from Lions duties to take charge for the 1984 Grand Slam season but stepped down the following year and Colin Telfer and Grant returned. Scotland suffered a Five Nations whitewash in 1985 but bounced back a year later with Grant now head coach, assisted by Ian McGeechan.

They played an expansive brand of rugby and their finest hour came when they presided over the 33-6 win over England in the Calcutta Cup at Murrayfield. It was a sparking performance by the Scots which had at its bedrock the best of the 1984 Grand Slam side, complemented by the young talent who would go on to form the core of the 1990 Grand Slam team.

Jim Telfer, who had stepped down to become head teacher at Hawick High School, described the match as his favourite as a fan.

“It was when the old 1984 Grand Slam team and the players who would go on to make up the 1990 Grand Slam team came together,” Telfer said in the book, This Is Murrayfield, published recently to celebrate the stadium’s 100th anniversary.

“You had Colin Deans, Roy Laidlaw, John Rutherford and Iain Milne still playing and Gavin and Scott Hastings and Finlay Calder from the 1990 team all starting that game too. We scored three tries that great day and I was watching from the stands marvelling at the quality of the Scotland performance.”

Scotland won three of their four matches - losing only to Wales in Cardiff - in the 1986 Five Nations to share the title with France, an often overlooked success sandwiched between the two Slams. By the time he had stepped down as head coach in 1988, Grant had taken charge of 18 games, winning nine, drawing one and losing eight for a very respectable 50 per cent win ratio, only bettered by Gregor Townsend, Vern Cotter and Bill Dickinson.

Grant continued to provide valuable input to the national team and was lineout and scrums specialist coach during the 1990 Grand Slam campaign.

“He was as hard as nails on the pitch,” Scotland great Andy Irvine told Scottish Rugby, “but Derrick was always keen to understand why, as a player, you had done certain things. He was a deep, deep thinker on the game and was such a decent fellow.”

He is survived by his wife, Elsie, and sons David and Steven.