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Where are they now? Scotland's last Championship winners in 1999
By Neil Fissler
If Scotland win their first-ever Six Nations title on Saturday, it will spark a party like 1999, and, ironically, it will need a favour from the auld enemy, England.
It was still the Five Nations when Scotland won their 22nd title. Italy were admitted to the Championship in 2000, and since then, England and France have won seven each, and Wales and Ireland six apiece.
The climax to the tournament in April 1999 couldn’t have been more dramatic. Scotland already had one hand on the trophy after running in five tries to inspire a 33-22 win over France, only their second win in 30 years in Paris.
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That looked to have been dramatically snatched away the following day when, at Wembley Stadium, the temporary home of Welsh rugby, while the Millennium Stadium was being completed, heavy favourites England looked set to beat Wales.
But then, in injury time, Scott Gibbs ghosted through England’s defence to score, and Neil Jenkins added the conversion, and Wales won 32-31, meaning England and Scotland finished with six points each.
Scotland won the title with a points difference of plus 41 against England’s plus 25.
Scotland Five Nations winners 1999
Glenn Metcalfe (Glasgow Caledonians)
The New Zealand-born full-back went home after ending his career at Castres and has since been a firefighter in Hamilton for over two decades.
Cammie Murray (Edinburgh Reivers)
The winger became a PE teacher at Berwickshire High School in Duns, where he is now Deputy Headteacher of Teaching & Learning.
Alan Tait (Edinburgh Reivers)
The dual-code international centre, who was also capped by the Lions, went into coaching with Newcastle, the Scottish Rugby Union and the Southern Knights.
John Leslie (Sannix)
The son of a former All Blacks captain made his international debut alongside his brother Martin and returned home, where he has coached and run a rugby clothing and equipment company in Dunedin.
Kenny Logan (Wasps)
A winger who is married to telly presenter Gabby Logan is a founding director of Logan Sports Marketing and also works as a brand ambassador and speaker.
Gregor Townsend (Brive)
The fly-half who in 1999 scored against all four nations in a season went into coaching with Border Reivers and has been Scotland’s head coach since 2017.
Gary Armstrong (Newcastle)
A scrum-half who captained Scotland to success lives in Jedburgh, where he has worked as a long-distance lorry driver, tried his hand at farming, before going to work for a grain business.
Dave Hilton (Bath)
The Bristol-born prop has coached Dings Crusaders and works as a programme facilitator for the Justice Department in Bristol.
Gordon Bulloch (Glasgow Caledonians)
The former Lions hooker is a successful businessman serving as the chairman of family firm Highland Galvanizers, and a director of software developers Tenzinc Ltd.
Paul Burnell (London Scottish)
The prop who was part of the Scotland team that won the Grand Slam in 1990 went to work in the City, then in waste recycling, and is now the Chief Growth Officer of Redgrave Partners.
Scott Murray (Bedford)
The lock went into coaching at Mont-de-Marsan in France and has also worked in the United States, where, as well as coaching, he has worked for a construction and landscaping company.
Stuart Grimes (Glasgow Caledonians)
The lock started working for major homebuilder Persimmon Homes in July 2016 as a land manager and is now the firm’s Managing Director.
Budge Pountney (Northampton)
The flanker was the director of rugby at Saints, but is now a World Rugby Educator and Rugby Development Manager at Ulster.
Stuart Reid (Leeds)
The flanker, who returned to his job as a policeman after turning full-time with Leeds, became a Chief Inspector as area commander in the Scottish Borders.
Martin Leslie (Edinburgh Reivers)
The back-row and younger brother of John returned to live in Lower Hutt and is the director of a local business, Leslie Drain Cleaning.
Replacements
Shaun Longstaff (Glasgow Caledonians)
The winger was a trained chef, and he is now a rugby agent with YMU Rugby.
Craig Chalmers (Edinburgh Reivers)
The fly-half worked in sales and marketing for Scottish Power, then moved into security, where he is business development manager for Portal Security.
Iain Fairley (Edinburgh Reivers)
The scrum-half is still based in his hometown, Kelso, where he runs a locksmith business.
Peter Walton (Newcastle)
The flanker, who coached Newcastle and spent a decade with the RFU, is now the SRU’s Scotland Qualified Performance Transition Manager.
Andy Reed (Wasps)
A Cornish-born Lions lock, he was a process plant engineer with Dairy Crest and is now a plumber in Bodmin.
George Graham (Newcastle)
A prop who lives in Harraby in Carlisle and has coached Gala and Hawick. He came out of retirement to become the head coach of Carlisle in 2022.
Steve Brotherstone (Edinburgh Reivers)
The hooker went into banking after retiring and is the executive director and team lead for the lending specialists at Coutts.
