Scotland heroes left in stitches as win goes to their heads

SCOTS will remember yesterday’s 9-6 victory over Australia as a historic triumph; a once-in-30-years result achieved thanks to some heroic defence, disciplined continuity play up front as the clock ticked down and the ice-cool nerves of penalty-taker Greig Laidlaw at the death.

The rest of the world will recall it as That Match Where Those Two Blokes Head-butted Each Other In Celebration.

Many of us know what it is like to have a sore head the morning after a famous win. Joe Ansbro and Alasdair Strokosch now know what it’s like to have aching bonces within seconds of the final whistle.

Laidlaw, who claimed the victory with the last kick of the game, was immediately mobbed by his team-mates. Strokosch and Ansbro, arriving on the scene just a little later, forgot all about the rule which tells you to keep on your feet during a ruck, and went straight over the top. From opposite sides of the melee.

Watch it again in slow motion and you might think there was a magnet in the middle, drawing their heads together with irresistible force. But it was just an unfortunate collision, one which brought a swift response from some of those watching on television. “Congrats on the win,” former England international Mike Tindall tweeted to Strokosch, his team-mate at Gloucester. “How many stitches did Joe need? Citing officer will probably be after ya.” Strokosch replied: “Ha ha. I got 4 but Joe got loads. Split him to the bone apparently.”

Strokosch later tweeted a photo of the mishap. “We’re tough in Scotland,” he wrote. “This is how we celebrate.”

However, former team-mate David Callam reminded Strokosch of the aftermath of another match which in one way was more embarrassing, if less painful. “Celebrations aren’t your thing, mate – like the time you celebrated against Agen forgetting that we lost!”

Before presumably retiring for the night, Strokosch responded: “I’ve officially retired from any form of smiling or celebrating.” Later, a bulletin from the Scotland camp suggested there had been no lasting damage. “Both were able to return to the changing room having been stitched,” it read.

The clash of heads was just the latest in a long line of mishaps during post-match celebrations. While both Ansbro and Strokosch could be passed fit for Scotland’s next match, Arsenal footballer Steve Morrow was not so lucky in 1993. After scoring the winner in the League Cup final, Morrow was grabbed by Tony Adams, who tried to lift him up, but slipped. Morrow fell awkwardly, breaking his arm. He was ruled out of action for the rest of the season, and missed his club’s the FA Cup final win.

More recently, Real Madrid’s Sergio Ramos emerged unscathed from his team’s celebrations of their 2011 Copa Del Rey success, but the trophy was not so fortunate. Brandishing the cup on an open-top bus parade, Ramos dropped it and looked on aghast as it went under the front wheels. The cup was badly dented, and so was Ramos’s pride.

In the late 1980s it was the big toe of former Albion Rovers and striker Victor Kasule which was badly dented – well, dislocated, to be precise – after he celebrated a goal for Shrewsbury. Landing badly after performing a somersault, he had to be taken off for treatment. He later claimed he had sustained the injury earlier, in a clash with a defender.

Back with rugby, perhaps the most embarrassing celebration – before yesterday’s – was the one carried out by Adam Roxburgh of Kelso around 20 years ago. Eluding the last defender, he twirled a hand in the air just before crossing the line and touching down for a try – only to have the score disallowed by the referee for “unsporting behaviour”. Some officials didn’t approve of fun back in the amateur era.