Colin Thomas Deans born on 3 May 1955 in Hawick

Hawick

Hawick is a town in the Scottish Borders of south east Scotland. It is south-west of Jedburgh and south-southeast of Selkirk. It is one of the farthest towns from the sea in Scotland, in the heart of Teviotdale, and the biggest town in the former county of Roxburghshire. Hawick's architecture is...

 in the Scottish borders

Scottish Borders

The Scottish Borders is one of 32 local government council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by Dumfries and Galloway in the west, South Lanarkshire and West Lothian in the north west, City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian to the north; and the non-metropolitan counties of Northumberland...

 was a rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 player with Hawick RFC

Hawick RFC

Hawick Rugby Football Club is a semi-professional rugby union side, currently playing in the Premiership Division One and Border League. The team are based at Mansfield Park at Hawick in the Scottish Borders....

 and . His nickname was the Hawick Hooker.

He made his debut (at the age of 22) against in 1978 when Scotland lost, 16 - 19. He was active on the national team between 1978, and 1987, with his high point being in Scotland's 1984 Grand Slam.

Richard Bath writes of him that he was

"The prototype for the faster hooker, acting as an extra flanker that has since emerged, Deans has few equals. Superb in the loose and a wonderfully quick striker of the ball in the scrum, the rugged Deans was also a pinpoint line-out thrower."

Allan Massie

Allan Massie

Allan Massie is a well-known Scottish journalist, sports writer and novelist.-Early life:Born in 1938 in Singapore, where his father was a rubber planter for Sime Darby, Massie spent his childhood in Aberdeenshire...

 describes him as a hooker with back-row skills:

"He is the most remarkable loose forward of any hooker I have seen. There can have been few, if any, faster; indeed, his speed is such that from the broken play and the line-out he gives Scotland in effect a fourth back-row forward. This means that, like Carmichael

Sandy Carmichael

Alexander Bennett Carmichael was a tighthead prop forward who played for West of Scotland R.F.C. and earned 50 caps in the Scotland national rugby union team from 1967 to 1978, which was a record for a Scottish forward at the time...

, he is ideal for the modern game, capable of fulfilling his specialist role, but also of taking a full part in fifteen-man Rugby. He harries the defence tirelessly: in the great win at Cardiff

Cardiff

Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...

 in 1982 Deans had a big part in the build-up for two of the Scottish tries; he was also at Calder's shoulder to take a pass, had that been necessary, when the first try was scored."

He also says that Deans was, "with the possible exception of Peter Wheeler, the most accurate thrower-in of recent years."

Deans was selected for the 1983 British Lions tour to New Zealand

1983 British Lions tour to New Zealand

In 1983 the British and Irish Lions toured New Zealand for the first time since 1977. The Lions went down to a 4-0 whitewash for only the second time in history - the previous was also inflicted by the All Blacks on the 1966 Lions. Overall the Lions played eighteen matches, winning twelve and...

, but surprisingly was kept on the bench for its entireity. New Zealand thrashed the British Lions on this tour.

He obtained 52 caps for his country. He is said to have been most effective when playing in combination with David Leslie

David Leslie (rugby union)

David Leslie is a former Scottish rugby union player. He played for Scotland 32 times between 1975 and 1985. He usually played at number eight, but occasionally at flanker....

.

Noted for his skills at the line-out, of the game against in 1984, the first Scottish Grand Slam since 1925, Allan Massie says "we would have probably lost that game if the Deans-Leslie

David Leslie (rugby union)

David Leslie is a former Scottish rugby union player. He played for Scotland 32 times between 1975 and 1985. He usually played at number eight, but occasionally at flanker....

 combination had been less effective".

With 52 caps he overtook Frank Laidlaw

Frank Laidlaw

Francis Andrew Linden Laidlaw is a former international rugby union playerHe was capped thirty-two times for Scotland as a hooker between 1964 and 1971 and captained his country twice....

's previous record.

Deans attended the primary school in Hawick where Bill McLaren

Bill McLaren

William Pollock "Bill" McLaren CBE was a Scottish rugby union commentator, teacher, journalist and one time rugby player. Until his retirement in 2002, he was known as 'the voice of rugby'...

taught.