Hugh McLeod (rugby player)
Encyclopedia
Hugh Ferns McLeod is a retired Scottish rugby union player. He played for Scotland
forty times between 1954 and 1962. He played 14 times for the Barbarians
between 1954 and 1959, scoring only once, a try in their 1958 match against East Africa
in Nairobi
on 28 May 1958 (though this is erroneously listed on the Barbarian website as earning 5 points whereas a try was only worth 3 points at the time). His home team was Hawick RFC
. giving rise to his nickname, the Hawick Hardman. Allan Massie
describes him as "Hawick through and through, and is indeed now President of the Club".
of Gala RFC
and David Rollo
of Howe of Fife RFC
. He was only twenty one when he first played for Scotland, a young age at the time, and retired from international rugby at thirty. He was made pack leader for a while, and the story goes that some of the posher, or anglified players could not actually understand his accent; one of his semi-humorous phrases as pack leader was "Come here, my wee disciples."
Richard Bath writes of McLeod that he
Allan Massie is equally flattering:
He was a personal friend of Bill McLaren
, also from Hawick
, who describes him as "A man for whom I always have had the highest respect and admiration."
One of the Anglo-Scots is supposed to have said, "Well, I didn't understand a word of that but it all sounded damned impressive.".
Another famous story involving McLeod, and the lock Frans ten Bos
and is told by Bill McLaren
. On the evening before the 1963 game between and at Colombes
in Paris
, Hugh McLeod and Bill McLaren were out having a meal together and bumped into ten Bos near a cafe. Hugh McLeod took Ten Bos aside, and told him bluntly:
Scotland later won the game 11-6, rare for an away game.
Ten Bos tapped McLaren on the shoulder as they left the cafe, and said, "You know, I'd follow him anywhere."
McLeod retired after forty caps, "because forty is a nice roond figure."
McLeod's hobby in later life has been dog shows mainly using his bulldog Spike.
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...
forty times between 1954 and 1962. He played 14 times for the Barbarians
Barbarian F.C.
The Barbarian Football Club, usually referred to as the Barbarians and nicknamed the "Baa-Baas", is an invitational rugby union team based in Britain...
between 1954 and 1959, scoring only once, a try in their 1958 match against East Africa
East Africa rugby union team
Established in 1950, The East Africa rugby union team is a multi-national rugby union team drawing players from Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, though the vast majority of these came from Kenya which has traditionally been the strongest rugby playing nation in this part of the world...
in Nairobi
Nairobi
Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is...
on 28 May 1958 (though this is erroneously listed on the Barbarian website as earning 5 points whereas a try was only worth 3 points at the time). His home team was 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....
. giving rise to his nickname, the Hawick Hardman. 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 "Hawick through and through, and is indeed now President of the Club".
International career
Hugh McLeod propped alongside Tom ElliotTom Elliot
Tom Elliot was a Scottish international rugby union player, who played for and the Lions. He was a prop alongside Hugh McLeod, and was described by Bill McLaren as "a tough rugged son of the soil"....
of Gala RFC
Gala RFC
Gala Rugby Football Club are a rugby union team based in Galashiels in the Scottish Borders, founded in 1875, they play their home games at Netherdale....
and David Rollo
David Rollo (rugby union)
David Miller Durie Rollo was a prop forward who played for . Unusually for a Scotland internationalist, he came from Fife.As a prop, he could play both tight and loosehead:...
of Howe of Fife RFC
Howe of Fife RFC
Howe of Fife RFC is a rugby union club based in Cupar, Fife in Central Scotland and is part of the Scottish Rugby Union. It was founded in 1921, and they play in blue and white hoops....
. He was only twenty one when he first played for Scotland, a young age at the time, and retired from international rugby at thirty. He was made pack leader for a while, and the story goes that some of the posher, or anglified players could not actually understand his accent; one of his semi-humorous phrases as pack leader was "Come here, my wee disciples."
Richard Bath writes of McLeod that he
- "proved himself one of the best tight-forwards that Scotland has ever produced. Despite being only 5ft. 9in. tall and weighing in around 14 stone - McLeod was a fitness fanatic and mighty scrummager as well as a player of surprising pace who made a huge contribution in the loose. After beginning is rugby career at the age of 16, it was less than a year before McLeod was drafted into the Hawick first-team pack, then one of the mightiest forward units in Britain. Within four years, and only just out of his teens, he made his Test debut against the New Zealanders - a 3-0 defeat at MurrayfieldMurrayfield StadiumMurrayfield Stadium is a sports stadium located in the west end of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Its all-seater capacity was recently reduced from 67,800 to 67,130 to incorporate the largest permanent "big screen" in the country though it still remains the largest stadium in Scotland and one...
."
Allan Massie is equally flattering:
- "He was short, broad-shouldered and huge-thighed, rather harder than teak, but a scrupulous and utterly honest player. Superlatives exhausted themselves on him quickly, for the fact that technically he did everything right. The merit of his front-row play may be gauged by the fact that the Scotland pack in his time held its own in the tight, despite a lack of real weight and strength in the second row..."
He was a personal friend of 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'...
, also from 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...
, who describes him as "A man for whom I always have had the highest respect and admiration."
- "come here, my wee disciples. Now, ah want tae tell ee that ah've been asked ti lead this pack tomorrow, that ah'm no very keen on the job and if any of you lot want to be pack-leader, just let me know, and ah'll put a word in for you at the right place. Meanwhile, the next one who opens his trap will get my boot bloody hard at his arse."
One of the Anglo-Scots is supposed to have said, "Well, I didn't understand a word of that but it all sounded damned impressive.".
Another famous story involving McLeod, and the lock Frans ten Bos
Frans ten Bos
Frans Herman ten Bos was an English-born rugby union footballer, of Dutch ancestry. He played for as a lock in the 1960s, and was capped seventeen times...
and is told 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'...
. On the evening before the 1963 game between and at Colombes
Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir
The Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir - stadium in Colombes, near Paris, France . Named in memory of French rugby player Yves du Manoir in 1928. Was the main stadium for the 1924 Summer Olympics and had a capacity of 45,000 at the time...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, Hugh McLeod and Bill McLaren were out having a meal together and bumped into ten Bos near a cafe. Hugh McLeod took Ten Bos aside, and told him bluntly:
- "Frans, ye think ye're a guid forrit [forward] but really ye're jist a big lump o' potted meat. If ah was half yer size I'd pick up the first two Frenchman that looked at me the morn [tomorrow] and ah'd chuck them right ower the bloody stand."
Scotland later won the game 11-6, rare for an away game.
Ten Bos tapped McLaren on the shoulder as they left the cafe, and said, "You know, I'd follow him anywhere."
McLeod retired after forty caps, "because forty is a nice roond figure."
McLeod's hobby in later life has been dog shows mainly using his bulldog Spike.