Iain Morrison to enter London Scottish Hall of Fame

Iain Morrison: One-club man. Picture: Ian Rutherford

The 53-year-old, who won 15 caps between 1993 and 1995 and has been a rugby writer for Scotland On Sunday and The Scotsman for 13 years, was a quintessential one-club man who played his whole career with the Exiles club after winning two Blues for Cambridge University.

As well as an international class openside he was a talented sevens player who was part of the London Scottish team which won the Middlesex  Sevens in 1991. Morrison was part of the Scotland team which famously won in Paris in 1995 – a first victory in the French capital since 1969 – and played in the 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa.

Morrison said: “I played for one club all my adult life after leaving university and had a blast in 13-odd seasons at  London Scottish.

“I turnedout for the first, second and, on one occasion, the third XV. We specialised in the short game and we would on occasion meet our own  second seven in the final of an end-of-season sevens competition. We won the London Floodlight sevens five times in succession and we won the Middlesex Sevens for the first time since the 1960s when the largely English crowd got behind the underdogs, cheering us to victory over a star-studded Harlequins side.

“I have many happy memories of the Athletic Ground and am hugely proud to take my place in the club’s Hall of Fame alongside some great names.”

Morrison, who also captained the Barbarians against Leicester during his career, returned to coach the London Scottish VII for a spell after retiring.

He will be inducted at Gaucho in Piccadilly alongside another London Scottish  legend, Mark Bright. The guest speaker will be Sean  Fitzpatrick, who captained the All Blacks in Morrison’s last Test – the 1995 World Cup quarter-final.