Scotland's 5 Best Ever Rugby Union Players
The 5 Greatest Scottish Rugby Union Players of All-Time
The first-ever international rugby match took place in Edinburgh in 1871 between Scotland and England.
Finlay Calder - One of Scotland’s greats
It is still a huge occasion for fans from both countries as the teams battle it out to win the Calcutta Cup. Scotland has produced many highly skilled, tough and committed players during its long history in International rugby.
It’s a hard task to pick just five players for this list. There have been so many that could be mentioned here. Players like Gavin Hastings, Greg Laidlaw, Doddie Weir, and the current head coach Gregor Townsend. I could go on, the list is almost endless.
For his Top 5 Scottish Rugby Union players, Daniel Cullinane has chosen the current Scotland Captain and all-rounder, the record point scorer, two famous captains and the record try scorer.
Stuart Hogg – The Former Scotland Captain.
Hogg, the former Scotland Captain has amassed an impressive 96 caps for his country.
He also represented the British and Irish Lions in Australia in 2013 and New Zealand in 2017. In Australia, he was the youngest player on tour. During his career so far he has scored 20 tries for Scotland.
He is an accomplished goal kicker and other than his preferred position of full-back, he can also play at fly-half. In 2016 after some fine performances, he was named player of the Six Nations Championship.
Between 2010 and 2019 he played for Glasgow Warriors before moving down to the South West of England to join Exeter Chiefs. In his relatively short time at the chiefs, he helped them become Premiership and European champions.
He’s an attacking fullback with pace and balance. With ball in hand, he seems to have so much time and space, and can ‘ghost’ past opponents. Following the recent successes with the Chiefs, he will be determined to repeat it with Scotland as their Captain.
Chris Paterson – The record points scorer with 809 from 109 appearances
As Scotland’s record point scorer, Chris Paterson is definitely worthy to be listed among Scotland’s finest rugby players. Regarded as a utility back, he had the skills, speed and creativity to play on the wing, at fly-half or at fullback.
He scored 809 points for his country and gained an impressive 109 caps. He was a prolific point’s scorer from the boot and he rarely missed shots at goal.
He was exceptional in defence and would often chop down attackers. One of his most memorable last-ditch tackles was against England full-back Ben Foden in the 2011 Calcutta cup match at Twickenham.
Some neat interplay by England from their own half saw Chris Ashton pass to Foden who accelerated away towards the Scottish line. He looked certain to score, but Paterson flew in and brought him down just metres from the line to prevent the try.
Finlay Calder – The Victorious Lions Captain of 1989.
Between 1986 and 1991 Finlay Calder, represented Scotland 34 times. During that time he scored 8 points. He may not have been a point-scoring machine but he did the hard work for others to get the glory. He was a tough player and never backed away from a challenge. He was part of the victorious Scotland Five Nations side of 1990 that was immortalised when they won the Grand Slam against England at Murrayfield.
Calder is also famous for leading the British and Irish Lions to victory in Australia in 1989. It was a hard tour against a supremely talented Wallabies team with players like Nick Farr-Jones and David Campese.
The Lions lost the first test but went on to win the remaining two to clinch the series. It was a proud moment for the openside as he was the first Scotsman to Captain the Lions since 1966.
David Sole –The Grand Slam winning Captain of 1990.
No one will forget the slow walk by the Scotland team as they were led out onto the pitch by David Sole to face England at Murrayfield. Both teams were just one win away from securing a Grand slam Five Nations championship.
Many had England as favourites but Sole Captained a Scotland team with no intention of losing that day. He played in the front row and was instantly recognisable by the cut off sleeves on his shirt that prevented the player opposite him getting a good bind on him in the scrum. It gave him an edge and highlighted his attention to detail.
He was a great competitor but went about his business as captain with calm authority. Between 1986 and 1992 he was awarded 44 caps for Scotland and 3 on the victorious 1989 tour of Australia with the Lions. He remains a legend to many Scottish fans for the triumph over England in 1990.
Ian Smith – The record Scottish try scorer with 24 tries.
The Scotland wing played 32 tests between 1924 and 1933. During that time he scored a record that he shares with Tony Stanger of 24 tries. That record still stands today.
In one match against France in 1925 he scored an impressive 4 tries. He also made two appearances for the then, British Isles team in South Africa in 1924.
In 1925 he was part of the team to win Scotland’s first Grand Slam. He played in all matches for Scotland during that championship. In 1933 he was made Captain and led Scotland to victory over England, Wales and Ireland to win the Triple Crown.
The flying Scotsman died in 1972 and in 2013 he was inducted into the Scottish Rugby Hall of Fame.
