Alastair McHarg was a lock (second row forward) for the Scotland national rugby union team

Scotland national rugby union team

The Scotland national rugby union team represent Scotland in international rugby union. Rugby union in Scotland is administered by the Scottish Rugby Union. The Scotland rugby union team is currently ranked eighth in the IRB World Rankings as of 19 September 2011...

, 1968-79. He won 44 caps for Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. He frequently partnered Gordon Brown

Gordon Brown (rugby player)

Gordon Lamont Brown was a Scottish international rugby union footballer. He was inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame in 2001. His nickname is Broon frae Troon after his home town in west central Scotland. Brown played second row for West of Scotland, Scotland and the British Lions...

 in the Scottish second row.

Like Ian McLauchlan

Ian McLauchlan

John "Ian" McLauchlan is a former Scottish John "Ian" McLauchlan is a former [[Scotland|Scottish]] John "Ian" McLauchlan is a former [[Scotland|Scottish]] [[rugby union] playerer...

 and Gordon Brown who were his contemporaries, he was an Ayrshire

Ayrshire

Ayrshire is a registration county, and former administrative county in south-west Scotland, United Kingdom, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine. The town of Troon on the coast has hosted the British Open Golf Championship twice in the...

 man.

Richard Bath writes of him that:

"At just over 15 stone and just 6ft. 4in., Alastair McHarg was hardly the identikit second row forward, even in the days when they didn't exactly breed 'em huge... A tough and notoriously abrasive Glaswegian, McHarg once joked that his entire playing career was shrouded 'in red mist'. McHarg though, fails to do himself justice with that remark... His speed around the park was perfectly suited to the mobile rucking game played by the Scots, whilst his timing and nous made him a safe bet at the line-out and one of the best number two jumpers of his generation."

Allan Massie says,

"He was probably the best line-out player Scotland have had. He timed his jump beautifully and could out-leap most of his contemporaries." - but was never selected for Lions.

Massie also valued his entertainment value as much as his skill.

"[o]f the famous Scottish front five of the early Seventies, Alastair McHarg was the card, the character, the most unorthodox, the greatest fun to watch. He was tall and rangy, a buoyant athlete, a little on the light side for a modern lock... His value in the broken play was incalculable."

Despite his skills, there were those who thought he would have been better cast as a Number 8.

He played for West of Scotland R.F.C.

West of Scotland R.F.C.

West of Scotland Football Club are a Scottish rugby union club from Milngavie, just outside Glasgow.-History:Formed in 1865, they played a founding role in establishing international rugby in Scotland and have provided a number of SRU Presidents and players. The club originated at Hamilton...

 and London Scottish F.C.

London Scottish F.C.

London Scottish Football Club is a rugby union club in England. It is a member of both the Rugby Football Union and the Scottish Rugby Union.-History:...

. He is now (2005) Director of Rugby at Reading RFC. He also played for the Anglo-Scots between 1982-3.

Despite being capped 44 times for Scotland, he was never selected for the British Lions

British and Irish Lions

The British and Irish Lions is a rugby union team made up of players from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales...

.

External links

• Alastair McHarg - tribute by the Scotsman newspaper
• McHarg gives his views on the SRU coup d'etat - Scotsman newspaper, January 13, 2005
• Sporting Heroes profile