Rory Bremner to help launch rugby hall of fame

RORY Bremner, a proud Scottish rugby supporter as well as a successful comedian, is to help launch the SRU's new hall of fame in November.

• Clockwise, from top left, David Sole, Alan Tait, Bryan Redpath, Gary Armstrong, Scott and Gavin Hastings are all on the shortlist for the 1990s section of the hall of fame, to be announced in November

Bremner, who was born in Edinburgh and attended Clifton Hall School on the outskirts, of the city has agreed to be the guest speaker at the inaugural hall of fame gala dinner', to be held at Murrayfield on Thursday 4 November. The 49-year-old has enjoyed a successful career as an award-winning satirist and comedian, and he recently bought a mansion in the Scottish Borders.

Bremner insisted rugby remained close to his heart, if playing was beyond him. He said: "Scottish rugby was a big part of my youth. From PC Brown wiping his nose on his sleeve and nonchalantly blootering the ball over the bar for a kick to beat England at Twickenham to the 'Mighty Mouse', Andy Irvine, David Sole and that Grand Slam victory, I've got many wonderful memories.

"Now I'm old, have a bad knee and am no longer available for selection, I'm delighted to renew my acquaintance with both Scotland and Scottish rugby and can't wait for the inaugural hall of fame dinner."

With tickets priced 149 plus VAT each, the dinner is an attempt by the SRU to make a more lucrative use of Murrayfield as an event venue, drawing on the widespread support for the sport and interest in its history, entwined with celebrations of rugby. The union has attracted criticism for its failure to invest in a museum at the national stadium, while hundreds of boxes of fascinating material remain shelved in a store room, but it is seeking to address that by creating new displays within the stadium suites that will be unveiled in the lead-up to the dinner.

The union is terming this the "first official" hall of fame, but it did take on a previous 'hall of fame' project at the start of the last decade launched by Scottish Rugby magazine, which inducted a large number of Scottish legends at Murrayfield, but that was swallowed up in the successive changes in leadership and belt-tightening.

The new Scottish Rugby hall of fame is being determined by a panel of well-known rugby figures, with members of the public also being invited to help to decide who makes up the first haul of 12 entrants. In stage one of the public vote earlier this year, supporters were asked on to the SRU website to choose players from the 1990s. The hall of fame panel, made up of five-times British and Irish Lions coach Sir Ian McGeechan, fellow Lions and Scotland internationalists John Beattie, John Jeffrey and Chris Rea, and former Scotsman rugby writer and Scotland hooker, Norman Mair, then drew up a shortlist of outstanding Scots from that decade and supporters can now select which one they want to enter the hall of fame. The candidates picked out are: Gary Armstrong, Gavin and Scott Hastings, Bryan Redpath, David Sole and Alan Tait.

Panel member John Jeffrey said: "Scotland supporters the world over will have their own favourites and we are keen for them to have the opportunity to put forward an iconic figure for the hall of fame. It is a fantastic way of recognising the outstanding contribution made by an individual to Scottish rugby."

The successful candidate will then join other 11 inductees selected by the panel to be announced and inducted at the inaugural hall of fame gala dinner in November. The deadline for voting, through the SRU website, is Thursday 30 September.