David Ferguson: Wealth of stories from the past made inaugural Hall of Fame event a night to remember

The SRU reported yesterday that the inaugural event had surpassed their expectations, largely through the richness of the stories recounted by past internationalists and coaches as they took their place in the Hall of Fame and the feedback received from those players, the current caps and coaches in attendance and guests who parted with 149 a head for tickets to celebrate the days before the more recent struggles.

It was a pity that Gavin Hastings, the winner of the public vote for the 1990s period, could not be there to collect his award due to HSBC business in Hong Kong, and a spot of golf with Tiger Woods, and he paid for it with the sharp wit of comedian Rory Bremner, who left few stones unturned in typically biting impressions of the Grand Slam hero.

But the professionalism of BBC host Dougie Donnelly and Bremner was also a key plank in the successful launch of what the judging panel, chaired by John Jeffrey, hope to repeat at some point inside the next two years.

Such 'Halls of Fame' upset some, and 'fame' itself has taken on ugly connotations in the modern world of 'celebrity', but this innovation has more to credit it in terms of the history and inspirational values it brings.

The stories retold were incredible, of players such as Ken McLeod, who made his Scotland debut at 17, retired at 21, played for Lancashire at cricket, Manchester City at football and was a champion golfer in Natal, or David Bedell-Sivright, the surgeon and Scottish heavyweight boxing champion who played wing-forward for Scotland, captained the British Lions and died on active service at Gallipoli aged 34.

The task faced by the judges, also including Norman Mair, Sir Ian McGeechan, Chris Rea and John Beattie, was difficult, and they did a fine job in distilling the awards into 12 after much debate. There are many illustrious names who did not make the first batch, from the colourful Charles 'Hippo' Reid to Ian Smith 'The Flying Scotsman', Eric Liddell, another flyer, to Douglas Elliot and Hugh McLeod, PC Brown to Jim Renwick, John Rutherford to David Sole and Gary Armstrong. But they will surely be joining soon.

One area that could do with a rethink is the election of a player from the 2000s.

The panel was hindered by the rules set by the SRU not to pick a current player or SRU employee, so the likes of Lions pair Gregor Townsend and Tom Smith and Scotland's first centurion Chris Paterson were discounted, while the Lions' most long-serving medic, Scotland's James Robson, was similarly not in the running. So they opted instead to honour McGeechan - a popular choice, but surely better in the 'specials' category for non-players if not in the running as an ex-player.

One agrees that players should be retired before being considered, but the 2000s era is not worth its place yet, unless all past internationalists are allowed to be considered irrespective of their employment.

The Hall of Fame should be above that. McGeechan is still coaching after all.

However, the desire on the part of the SRU to turn the spotlight on the game's history is to be applauded and there is similarly positive feedback coming from internationalists ahead of the reception being organised by the union and hosted by John Rutherford and Roy Laidlaw ahead of the New Zealand game, where more than 250 former internationalists and their partners have so far accepted the invitation to meet up before the first autumn Test match and watch the game together.

The current Scottish Rugby Union regime has shown itself to be lacking in some of the finer understanding of what makes the game special, but these moves are a positive step in the right direction.