A Couple Of Sepia-Tinted Selections

ANOTHER Scottish Rugby writer recently came up with his All-Time Glasgow XV, which was confined to players who had pulled on a Glasgow jersey in the Open era of Rugby. That's one of the things that annoys me about Rugby journalism in Scotland today – the young guys who are still on the tools full-time, appear to assume, we didn't play Rugby Union before 1995.

Well, I've been writing Where are they now? And other pieces on sporting history for years and years now and, rightly or wrongly, it is a given when writing such pieces: a star in one era would have been a star in any era.

This got me thinking, what might Glasgow and Edinburgh teams from the Amateur Era (pre-1995) look like? Obviously I have been forced to select only from guys I have seen – from about the mid-1950s, so, here are the teams I came up with:

GLASGOW XV from the amateur era:

1. Ian McLauchlan (Jordanhill College)

2. Quintin Dunlop (West of Scotland)

3. Sandy Carmichael (West of Scotland)

4. Bill Cuthbertson (Marr/West of Scotland)

5. Gordon Brown (Marr/West of Scotland)

6. Alistair McHarg (Irvine/West of Scotland)

7. Ron Glasgow (Jordanhill College)

8. John Beattie (Glasgow Academicals)

9. Hugh McHardy (Kilmarnock)

10. Brian Simmers (Glasgow Academicals)

11. David Shedden (Old Spierians/West of Scotland)

12. Chris Rea (West of Scotland)

13. Ian Murchie (Ardrossan Academicals/West of Scotland)

14. Arthur Smith (Glasgow University)

15. Niven Rose (Dalry High School FP and Kilmarnock)

EDINBURGH XV from the amateur era:

1. David Sole (Edinburgh Academicals)

2. Kenny Milne (Heriot's FP)

3. Iain Milne (Heriot's FP)

4. Erle Mitchell (Edinburgh University)

5. Douglas Muir (Heriot's FP)

6. Jim Calder (Stewart's-Melville FP)

7. Finlay Calder (Stewart's-Melville FP)

8. John Douglas (Stewart's College FP)

9. Dougie Morgan (Melville College FP/Stewart's-Melville FP)

10. Ian Robertson (Watsonians)

11. Iwan Tukalo (Royal High School FP)

12. Scott Hastings (Watsonians)

13. Sean Lineen (Boroughmuir)

14. Andy Irvine (Heriot's FP)

15. Ken Scotland (Heriot's FP)

That's the line-up, now the reasoning. I reckon the Glasgow front row picked itself, I could make a strong case for having Rodney Balfour in the hooker's shirt, but, the selected front row's international credentials: two internationals in eight days, two wins against England is difficult to argue against.

If he was starting out today, I am sure Big Al McHarg would be operating as a six rather than as a lock, so I selected him there, while allowed me to pick my old sparring partner Bill Cuthbertson alongside Big Broonie in an all-Marr College boiler-room pairing.

I so wanted to pick my old pal, the late Gordon Strachan at seven, but, much as I loved Gordon, I simply could not overlook Ron Glasgow.

In the backs, I considered breaching my self-imposed rule about only picking Scots, and Scots from the West of Scotland, by giving Lionel Weston, the England cap who taught at Kelvbinside Academy and played for West of Scotland the scrum-half's jersey. I ought here too mention my liking for Sandy Service and wee George Nicolson, who was such a star for Stewartry and Ayr, but, in the end, I went with Kilmarnock's Hugh McHardy – a player who, in another time, against less stellar domestic opposition, would have won a full cap.

At full-back, I went for the late Niven Rose. You have to be bloody good to get picked for a District XV when playing for a Junior club, and “Monty” managed that when still with Dalry HSFP. There was a time when he was ranked ahead of Andy Irvine, which is further testimony to his talent, but, in the end, Andy wanted a cap more than Rose. Believe you me, however, he was a helluva player.

With my Edinburgh XV, my major decision was around the lock combination. The fact is, certainly in the post-war amateur years, very few Edinburgh-based locks were capped. I was always going to go with Erle Mitchell, these many years working as a doctor in British Columbia, but, who should do the donkey work alongside him?

From a thin field, including several “one cap wonders” I finally settled on the only man in my two XVs I never actually saw play myself, Heriot's Douglas Muir, a man who won seven caps in the early 1950s, during that dire run of 17 straight defeats.

The other big decision in the Edinburgh XV was at full-back, where the choice was between three of Scotland's greatest. In the end, I was always going to go with my all-time favourite player – Ken Scotland, while his displays for the 1974 Unbeaten Immortals British Lions gave me a reason to pick Andy Irvine on the right wing, which meant no place for Gavin Hastings.

These then are my selections. Now, wearing my flak jacket and tin helmet, I await the back-lash, while I look at picking North and Midlands and South XVs.