A safe pair of hands on and off the park

Published on Thursday 25 June 2009 10:08

BACK in 1989 Stewart's Melville College could proudly boast among its old boys Finlay Calder and James Whyte.

One captained the British and Irish rugby team while in that same year the other rose to become Moderator of General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.

Or, as one speaker to the rugby club's annual dinner put it: "Our school has not only the leader of the Lions . . . but the Christians too!"

Soon there could be another honour for Stewart's Melville with Calder bidding, on Saturday, to become president of the Scottish Rugby Union in the face of a challenge from two other candidates.

If elected it will complete a remarkable transformation for the one-time scourge of the Murrayfield establishment who famously refused to get involved in administration, saying: "If you see a train going over the edge of a cliff you don't run out shouting 'stop' – but you do make yourself ready to start picking up the pieces when the time comes."

According to Calder, a 52-year-old grain merchant with Glencore (UK) Ltd, that time has come as he laughs at the recall of his previous remark.

"I think one of the things Scottish rugby now needs most is stability.

"There was a time when I shook my head at some of the antics but what changed things for me was when Gordon McKie was appointed chief executive and Allan Munro came on board as chairman.

"It's hard to run any business if you are overdrawn and Scottish rugby had to recognise the need to cut its cloth accordingly.

"Improvement in finances was under way when the Scottish team went to Argentina last summer and won a Test match over there, a tremendous achievement for which they possibly didn't get the credit they deserved.

"What followed was a very narrow defeat by the reigning world champions, South Africa, in Edinburgh which was creditable, while the team played particularly impressively against England at Twickenham again without quite getting a win but it did show what can be achieved."

Those performances were not sufficient to save the neck of deposed coach Frank Hadden but in Andy Robinson the SRU have appointed a successor Calder knows particularly well.

They were team-mates on the victorious Lions tour of Australia and Calder says: "One of the most appealing aspects of this election is the chance it offers to be about the place supporting Andy in his new job with Scotland.

"I can't, hand on heart, say he struck me as international coaching material when we toured Australia together because there were other things on our minds then.

"But I firmly believe he is the man to get Scottish rugby looking up to the skies again after too much time spent looking downwards."

As befits a former captain of the Lions it is in Calder's gift to see the benefits of taking ideas and inspiration from far and wide and, interestingly, he sets out his stall in an election CV-cum-manifesto – his rivals for the post are Jim Stevenson, the current incumbent from Cambuslang, and Jimmie Gracie, a businessman from Alloa – by drawing attention to how the Irish nation was able to let go of its bloody past.

Two years ago, with their traditional Lansdowne Road ground was being redeveloped, Irish Rugby secured an agreement to play at Croke Park, home of Gaelic games and where, in 1920, a massacre involving British troops firing on a section of the crowd had occurred. The sporting world and beyond held its breath as kick-off approached, waiting for the reaction when the England team ran out to play, but the spirit of sport prevailed.

Calder says: "I have a dream for Scottish rugby founded upon England's visit to Croke Park two years ago when, despite the tragic history, the Irish nation welcomed the English team and supporters as friends.

"National anthems were respected . . . and the Irish team then ran England off the park!"

Such magnanimity is central to Calder, who in his hour of triumph when Scotland defeated England to claim a Grand Slam at Murrayfield in 1990 did not forget a proud rival.

"I was close to tears. Finlay Calder saw how upset I was and put his arm around my shoulders to console me. I really appreciated that." Those words were spoken by Brian Moore, epitome of the English rugby bulldog but who was to invite Calder to be usher at his Knightsbridge wedding "provided you wear the kilt" an experience to be recalled in the book Giants of Scottish Rugby.

Calder, one of four rugby-playing brothers whose twin, Jim, is also an international, recalls: "I think some of the guests thought I was some sort of flunkey; they kept piling coats on to my arm and asking me to 'see to this, would you darling'. I never let on."

A favourite saying of Calder's, as told to many a rugby gathering, is "never take yourself too seriously because there is always somebody out there ready to pull you down".

However, the man himself knows better than anybody the difference between a sporting playground and the seriousness of the real world.

It is not information he volunteers but, in 2001, the Evening News reported that when the wife of former Scotland back row colleague Derek White tragically died, one of the first people to make the journey to his door was Calder accompanied by fellow rugby legend, John Jeffrey. And the Whites lived in Hampshire.

While it might be a matter of rugby record that Calder served as patron of an appeal to aid Struan Kerr-Liddell, a young Lismore club player seriously injured in a game, it is only by delving deep into the Giants book that you learn that he once drove aid trucks to Eastern Europe.

Such pursuits are, clearly, admirable but will that help pave the way for a brave new era in Scottish rugby – and what to expect of any president?

Calder, who has for much of this decade been quietly training reserve teams at Edinburgh Academicals out of friendship for head coach Ian Barnes and who was made an honorary member of that club, is unsure.

He says: "When I was asked to stand for SRU President on behalf of the Premiership Division One clubs I was very flattered.

"Some things you don't throw back so, apart from discussions with my family (he is married to Liz with two grown-up children, David and Hazel] and employers as I explored the mechanics of the post, I didn't have to think much about the decision to stand.

"It will be hugely ambassadorial which is not something I would be uncomfortable with.

"It would be ludicrous to have someone who will be on site for a maximum of two years making policy decisions.

"What I do feel is that any success for the national team comes straight down through the system, and nearer grass roots, the inclusion of two Scottish clubs in a new British and Irish Cup competition is a great step forward in granting them renewed ambition.

"You know, it is amazing what a few good results can do."

Women given chance of level playing field with merger

WOMEN's rugby has always been a bit of a Cinderella sister to its more macho mainstream brother, with its prime-time TV deals and star names – perhaps because the traditional black eyes and broken bones weren't seen as quite the thing for a lady.

But now the increasingly popular sport is about to step out of the shadows. On Saturday, the Scottish Rugby Union and the Scottish Women's Rugby Union will merge to form "an inclusive governing body for an all inclusive sport". And about time too, say three of the sport's Edinburgh female players – who don't have a cauliflower ear among them.

CARA D'SILVA

She's suffered a broken collarbone and missed out on Saturday nights on the town for her sport but the 24-year-old from Granton says any sacrifices are well worth it.

The physiotherapy masters student explains: "I think of myself as a girly-girl who enjoys going out with friends and wearing nice clothes, and I only wear sports clothes when I play sports.

"I'll maybe skip a Saturday night out if I know I've got a game the following day, but I don't see it as a sacrifice – I see it as a privilege.

"I haven't sustained any serious injuries. The worst I've had is a broken collarbone and a few bumps and bruises but the thrill of working towards a goal and achieving it means more to me than the odd black eye or broken fingernail.

"I have been out on dates since I became a rugby player but they already know I'm a quirky girl who's into a lot of different things. They've never had an issue about dating a rugby player."

Cara started playing rugby when she was 19 and within 18 months she'd already been picked up by a scout and began training for the second-tier Scotland Development team. She now plays in the first team.

"The good thing about women's rugby is you can still have a life, even though we do try to train as though we are a professional team.

"I have been known to wear a bit of make-up before I head out on the field. Our coaches always say that if we look good, we feel good and we'll go out and play better!"

TANYA GRIFFITH

Twenty-one-year-old Tanya began playing the game when she was just five. The sports coaching and development student from Livingston says: "I went to watch my brother play for Livingston and I turned to my mum and said, 'Mummy, I want to play'.

"She told me not to be silly, that rugby was a man's sport and that I could get hurt but I was insistent.

"When I started training there were hardly any girls playing and they were all kept separate from the boys so the level of training we got wasn't as good. Things have really turned around in the last three or four years and now women are starting to get a more level footing.

"There is still that element out there that rugby is just for boys. If I head down to the shops in my rugby gear people are surprised when I tell them I've been playing rugby, and I'm always being told that it's a man's sport. No-one's ever been nasty about it though.

"I've had a few injuries over the years, including torn ligaments, a broken collarbone, a cracked rib and a broken wrist twice, but if I turn up for a night out in my party gear sporting a black eye people know it's from rugby and we generally have a laugh about it."

LOUISE DALGLIESH

Black eyes have been part and parcel of life as a rugby player – and a PE teacher – for Louise. The 28-year-old, who teaches at Ross High in Tranent, says: "The worst I've received is two broken fingers, plus a few black eyes and a couple of concussions.

"I've never let any of these injuries bother me. I'm a PE teacher so I don't get the same reaction from the kids if I come in with a black eye than I would if I had a job working with the public.

"When I go out with my friends, most of them know that I'm a rugby player, so they wouldn't think twice about seeing me with an black eye."

"We're a women's team and most of the girls want to look good but I don't think that singles us out from the men, especially the men who get highlights or put straighteners through their hair to go out and play."