Gavin Hastings

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Andrew Gavin Hastings, OBE (born January 3, 1962 in Edinburgh) of Watsonians, Cambridge University Rugby Football Club, Scotland national rugby union team and the British and Irish Lions was one of the outstanding rugby players of his generation, winning 61 caps for Scotland, 20 of which as captain. He played fullback, and captained the Lions on the tour to New Zealand in 1993. He is the all-time record points scorer in the Scotland national rugby union team, with 667 points in test matches, and the all-time record points scorers for the British and Irish Lions (in test matches), with 66. He also scored 17 tries for Scotland, to place him third on Scotland's all time list on his retirement. He has appeared 10 times for the Barbarians. He goes by the nickname: "Big Gav".

As a schoolboy Gavin became the first player to captain a Scottish schoolboys side to win in England. In 1985, he captained Cambridge University to victory in the Varsity Match.

Gavin was the indirect successor to Andy Irvine, previously considered Scotland's best ever full back. He is the elder brother of Scott Hastings. Both Hastings brothers earned their first cap on January 17, 1986 against France. Gavin's career initially got off to an inauspicious start - his opening kick off went out of bounds, and when he turned away in disgust, assuming he had given away a free kick, the French elected to take a quick throw-in (a rarity in such situations) and scored a try directly from the throw-in. Gavin recovered his composure to kick six penalty goals in the match (then a record), which Scotland eventually won 18-17. He later broke his own record scoring eight penalty goals in a record breaking 33-6 win over England in 1986.

Gavin has twice set the world record for most points in an international match, and on each occasion the record was then broken by someone else for the second time on the same day.^[1]

Gavin is still the current record holder for most cumulative points in World Cup finals, with 227 (between 1987-95). The next highest active player on the list is Jonny Wilkinson, with 182.

Gavin was a member of the Scotland team which won only its third Grand Slam in its history in 1990, playing a pivotal role in Tony Stanger's crucial winning try in the final match.

In 1995 Gavin Hastings scored a try underneath the posts from a pass by Gregor Townsend in the waning minutes of a match against France in the old Parc des Princes, which gave Scotland its first win on French soil since 1969.

Gavin's greatest disappointment as an international rugby player came in a 1991 World cup semi final match against England. With the scores level at 6-6 in the waning minutes of a tightly fought defensive game, Gavin had a relatively straightforward penalty attempt right in front of the English posts. He missed the kick, and England went on to win in extra time and play in the final.

In 1996 Hastings made an initially controversial decision to accept an invitation to switch to American football with the Scottish Claymores of the WLAF. However, Hastings' brief spell in his new code was a successful one, as the Claymores won that year's World Bowl at the home of Scottish Rugby, Murrayfield Stadium.

He is widely considered one of the outstanding players of the game, and is hugely respected by his peers. He was inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame in 2003. In sporting lists, he is often named as the greatest Scottish rugby player of all time.

[edit] See also

International Rugby Hall of Fame

[edit] External links

Gavin Hastings on the Scotsman website
Gavin Hastings on the Sporting Heroes website.
Gavin Hastings motivational speaker

[edit] Footnote

^ In the 1995 Rugby World Cup, Gavin scored 44 points against the Ivory Coast; later that day Simon Culhane scored 45 points for New Zealand in a record 145-17 victory over Japan, a record that still stands. Previously Gavin had set the record for points scored in an individual game in the inaugural 1987 Rugby World Cup, only to see that record then broken by Didier Camberabero of France who scored 30 points for France against Zimbabwe on the same afternoon.