Wilson Shaw

Published on Thursday 2 May 2002 01:00

First capped in 1934 against Wales, Wilson Shaw was the most talented Scottish back of the 1930s. He played most of his games at stand-off but, as with Gregor Townsend, the selectors couldn’t decide on his best position and he also played as both a wing and a centre.

An excellent breaking stand-off, Shaw had a lethal side-step and breathtaking acceleration, although he was by no means the complete article; only a moderate kicker, his tackling was described in The Scotsman as ‘incredibly slack’. However, in 1938, after already winning 13 caps without really establishing himself, Shaw’s brilliance led Scotland to the Triple Crown and his own place in history - like Townsend in 1999 though, if it had not been for injuries elsewhere Shaw would not have played at stand-off at all.

The 1938 Triple Crown was decided, almost inevitably, against England at Twickenham in a game which became known as ‘Wilson Shaw’s match’. In an incredible contest which the Scots won 21-16, (and a try count of 5-1), Shaw scored two tries and made a third. After the match he was carried shoulder-high from the field and acclaimed as ‘the greatest rugby player of his generation’.

Of course by next season he was out on the wing again and Scotland lost all three of their internationals. But the memory of 1938 lasted long in the memory – it had to, Scotland would not win the Triple Crown again until 1984, on their way to a long-awaited Grand Slam.

Shaw played 19 times for his country, the last against England in 1939, in an international career curtailed by poor selection and the outbreak of war. But he will be remembered for that Triple Crown triumph when he repeatedly broke the English line, breaking ‘as if he had been shot from a gun’.