Donald Scott (15 April 1928 – 22 June 2024)[1] was a Scotland international rugby union player. Normally a centre, he also played on the wing. Donald Scott died on 22 June 2024, at the age of 96.
Birth name | Donald Macdonald Scott | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Date of birth | 15 April 1928 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Langholm, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Date of death | 22 June 2024 | (aged 96)||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Rugby career
editAmateur career
editScott played for – and was internationally capped whilst at – Langholm and Watsonians.[2]
Provincial career
editHe broke through while playing with Langholm to play for the South. He was part of the South team that beat North 10 points to 9 on 11 November 1950.[3]
Whilst with Watsonians he played for Edinburgh District. He played in the 1952–53 season's Inter-City match but lost to Glasgow District.[4]
He played in the Scottish Inter-District Championship in its first season. In that 1953–54 season, Edinburgh District won the first championship.[5]
International career
editHe was capped for Scotland 11 times from 1950 to 1953, playing in nine Five Nations matches. He was capped at Centre and Wing.[6]
He never scored an international try, though during the Five Nations match against England in 1950, both he and teammate Donald Sloan pounced on a high kick over the try line. As both got up, Scott patted Sloan on the back and the try was awarded to Sloan.[7][8]
Scott also played in Scotland's 44–0 defeat to South Africa in 1951. He remembered: "When I played in any match there were three things I thought the man opposite me might do:- they would run at me and try to beat me; they would run at me and pass the ball; or they would kick the ball. Well, the South Africans did all that, but they also did something I had never seen before: they ran into you. They looked at you and said: come and take me. You watch rugby now and it is all about contact, and laying the ball off in different ways. That was the first time I saw that approach."[9]
Outside of rugby
editScott was a teacher at George Watson's College. He coached the school's 1st XV at rugby union.[10]
References
edit- ^ Obituary: Donald Scott
- ^ The Essential History of Rugby Union: Scotland. Nick Oswald and John Griffiths.
- ^ "The Glasgow Herald – Google News Archive Search".
- ^ "The Glasgow Herald – Google News Archive Search".
- ^ "The Glasgow Herald – Google News Archive Search".
- ^ "Rugby Union – ESPN Scrum – Statsguru – Player analysis – Donald Scott – Test matches".
- ^ "'Rock steady gentleman' of the rugby pitch passes away".
- ^ "Scotland v England".
- ^ "Scotland v South Africa: History offers red-blooded taste of battle".
- ^ "Gavin Hastings: 'You learn more from defeat than victory'". Archived from the original on 15 August 2014.