Francis Andrew Linden Laidlaw (born 20 September 1940) is a former international rugby union player

He was capped thirty-two times for Scotland as a hooker between 1964 and 1971 and captained his country twice.

He toured twice with the British and Irish 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...

, to Australia and New Zealand in 1966

1966 British Lions tour to Australia and New Zealand

In 1966 the British Lions toured Australia and New Zealand. The Lions won the two test matches against but lost all four internationals against the All Blacks....

 and New Zealand in 1971

1971 British Lions tour to New Zealand

In 1971 the British Lions toured New Zealand, also playing two matches in Australia. Despite losing the first match to Queensland the tour was a great success, the Lions winning the test series against the All Blacks. They are still the only Lions side to have won a test series in New Zealand...

  and at the time played club rugby for Melrose RFC

Melrose RFC

Melrose Rugby Football Club, located in the town of Melrose in the Scottish Borders, is one of the oldest rugby clubs in the world.-History:The club was formed in 1877 and was elected to full membership of the Scottish Rugby Union in 1880...

He also played for Melrose RFC

Melrose RFC

Melrose Rugby Football Club, located in the town of Melrose in the Scottish Borders, is one of the oldest rugby clubs in the world.-History:The club was formed in 1877 and was elected to full membership of the Scottish Rugby Union in 1880...

. In fact, his 1966 game against was what was known as "the Melrose Game” by 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'...

 because the club had four players on the national side: the others being Alex Hastie

Alex Hastie

Alexander James Hastie, also known as Alex Hastie or Eck Hastie was a Scottish rugby union player. who played at scrum-half and was commonly linked with David Chisholm:...

, David Chisholm

David Chisholm

David Chisholm was a Scottish international rugby union player.He was capped for fourteen times between 1964-68. He also played for Melrose RFC...

 and Jim Telfer

Jim Telfer

James "Jim" Telfer is a Scottish rugby union coach and a former rugby player. A former headmaster at Hawick High School and chemistry teacher, he has won fame as a Scottish forwards coach who gave punishing training sessions to his players...

. Scotland won 11-5.
He was on the 1966 British Lions tour to Australia and New Zealand

1966 British Lions tour to Australia and New Zealand

In 1966 the British Lions toured Australia and New Zealand. The Lions won the two test matches against but lost all four internationals against the All Blacks....

.

Norman Mair

Norman Mair

Norman G.R. Mair is a sports journalist and a former Scottish international rugby union and cricket player. He later became a journalist for The Scotsman on rugby and golf., and also wrote for Rugby World His daughter is Suzi Mair, who presents STV News at Six.Mair has always been outspoken in his...

 once said that Frank Laidlaw regarded the loss of his own ball as he would a family bereavement.

He is a proponent of Scientology

Scientology

Scientology is a body of beliefs and related practices created by science fiction and fantasy author L. Ron Hubbard , starting in 1952, as a successor to his earlier self-help system, Dianetics...

.