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Where are they now? The last Scotland team of the amateur era 25 years after their exit from the 1995 World Cup

By Owain Jones
(Photo by Tony Marshall/Empics via Getty Images

When Scotland watched Jonah Lomu trampling over their Celtic cousins, Wales and Ireland, in the pool stages of the 1995 World Cup, you could have forgiven them for letting out a painful whimper when they saw their path to the semi-finals in South Africa meant outwitting and outmuscling Lomu and the All Blacks. 

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Within minutes of the June 11 quarter-finals action starting 25 years ago in Pretoria, Scotland realised Lomu was indeed New Zealand’s very own Godzilla as he went around Craig Joiner with little difficulty and popped the ball up to Frank Bunce to give them an early lead. 

A trouncing looked likely but four missed kicks from Andrew Mehrtens meant that Scotland were somehow still in touch at the Loftus Versfeld interval, trailing by just 17-9 at the break. 

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Gavin Hastings guests in the RugbyPass Rugby World Cup Memories documentary series

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Gavin Hastings guests in the RugbyPass Rugby World Cup Memories documentary series

That was as good as it got, though, for the 1991 semi-finalists. They needed a tub-thumping restart but after Gavin Hastings spilt a wicked up-and-under from Mehrtens, Walter Little was quickest to react and he skipped over unopposed. 

Further scores swiftly followed, but Scotland were to rally at 45-16, enjoying a surge that meant the defeat was a mere 18 points – 48-30 – in what was their last Test match of the old amateur era before the sport officially turned professional that August.

What became of this Class of 1995? RugbyPass takes a step back in time:

15. Gavin Hastings

Usually prefixed with Scottish legend, ‘Big’ Gav – now 58 – was a talisman for Scotland for nearly a decade. He played in three World Cups and three Lions tours, captaining Scotland on 20 occasions and the Lions in 1993 with gravitas. Hastings spoke with passion and played with real verve from the backfield, thundering onto balls and tackling with venom. 

A Cambridge Blue, he famously tried his hand at American football for a season after retiring from rugby. Twenty-five years on from RWC 1995, he has accrued several business interests, is a keen golfer and watches proudly as his son Adam establishes himself in the Scotland side via Glasgow. 

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14. Craig Joiner

A Glaswegian by birth, he won 25 caps for Scotland on the flank and had the misfortune of marking Lomu in the 1995 quarter-finals. Also able to play at 13, Joiner attended Loughborough University before playing over 140 times for Leicester Tigers and Edinburgh in the professional era. After retiring from rugby, the now 46-year-old went into investment management and currently works for Standard Life.

13. Scott Hastings

The joker to Gavin’s straight man, Scott played with a smile on his face for the majority of his 67 caps. Slightly smaller than his big brother, he had a powerful fend and arcing outside break that saw him represent the Lions in 1989 and 1993, and was a superb defender with one tackle on Rory Underwood going down in folklore as Scotland won the 1990 Grand Slam.

Now 55, since hanging up his boots he has made a successful foray into the media as a summariser for both the BBC and ITV, is an ambassador for the Support in Mind mental health charity and watches with interest as his daughter Kerry-Anne progresses with Scotland on the hockey field.

The Haka
Jonah Lomu and the All Blacks lay down the challenge to Scotland (Photo by Mike Egerton/Empics via Getty Images)
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12. Graham Shiel

He won 18 caps for over a nine-year period at inside-centre. A qualified stonemason, his defence was similarly impenetrable. Someone who bisected the amateur era with Melrose and Manly after a brief stint in Australia, he played for Border Reivers and Edinburgh, going on to become academy coach at the latter.

He had a long stint as Scotland 7s skills coach and is currently the coach of Boroughmuir Bears in the Super 6. His son Charlie is a promising scrum-half who has played for Scotland at all age-grades. The 49-year-old sadly lost his father-in-law Dougie Morgan, the ex-Scotland captain, to Covid-19 in April.

11. Kenny Logan

Another great who went on to play for Scotland on 70 occasions, he was also a handy kicker, slotting 154 points with the boot. A mainstay for three World Cups, the now 48-year-old scored 13 tries in an eleven-year career.

At club level, he had two dalliances with Glasgow either side of a super successful spell with London Wasps where he won a Heineken Cup and two Premiership titles. Logan married the television presenter, Gabby Yorath, in 2001 and the couple had twins in 2005. He now runs a successful PR company, Logan Sports Marketing, as well as various charity commitments, including Sparks.

10. Craig Chalmers

‘Chick’ had a well-travelled club career that took him to Border Reivers, Edinburgh, Glasgow Harlequins and Worcester Warriors but his true love was Melrose where he played in the amateur era. He rose to the very top of the game with the British and Irish Lions on the 1989 tour to Australia.

A big character, he won 60 caps for Scotland, ending up with 166 points and a Grand Slam in 1990. As a fly-half, he was a shrewd game manager and a doughty tackler. In retirement, Chalmers, now 51, has held a number of coaching positions with Melrose, Esher and the Scotland U20s and has appeared as a media pundit.

Craig Chalmers
Craig Chalmers tries to free himself from All Black tacklers (Photo by John Stillwell/PA Images via Getty Images)

9. Bryan Redpath

From Galashiels, he was small but immensely strong and had brilliant service that saw him win 60 caps for his country. He appeared at three World Cups and in a long club career, he played for Melrose, Narbonne and Sale Sharks before hanging up his boots and coaching at Gloucester and Sale Sharks.

In 2017, he looked outside rugby and is currently with the financial management company, Elite FX. Now 48, he keeps his hand in with rugby through his son Cameron, who played for England U20s at centre and signed a three-year deal with Bath this year after spending his academy years at Sale.

1. Dave Hilton

He was a rampaging loosehead who represented Scotland with distinction on 42 occasions. Hilton played for Bath, winning Premiership, Pilkington and European Cup titles but his Test career came to an abrupt halt when it was alleged he could not prove his grandfather Walter was born in Edinburgh.

He was banned for two-and-a-half years before qualifying through the residency rule during his time with Glasgow Warriors. He made one more Test appearance against South Africa and finished out his club career at Bristol. Post-rugby, the now 50-year-old coached at Moseley and has been a community coach with the RFU for eleven years.

2. Kenny Milne

He was a steady presence in the Scottish front row between 1989 and 1995 where he turned out for Scotland on 40 occasions. In a time when Scots crammed Lions squads, he toured on the 1993 Lions tour to New Zealand.

A brother of Iain, who made 42 appearances at prop, and David, who also won a Scotland cap, the youngest Milne brother won a Grand Slam in 1990 with his renowned workrate, tough tackling and dependability. His club career was spent at Heriot’s while working as a van driver for a Leith pie-factory. Since retiring, the now 58-year-old has built up a successful printing company and indulges in his big passion – fishing.

Scotland 1995 World Cup
Scotland spread out in a line during the game in Pretoria (Photo by Allsport UK)

3. Peter Wright

A regular for Scotland between 1992 and 1996, the now 52-year-old locked down his country’s scrum on 21 occasions and his robust nature earned him a place on the 1993 Lions. A shaven-headed blacksmith from Bonnyrigg, he saw the social differences between him and his Cambridge-educated contemporaries.

Post-playing he dallied in coaching, taking charge of the Scotland U20s team and he currently presides over Glasgow High Kelvinside. He has also driven HGV lorries and been a regular BBC Radio Scotland co-commentator where he is valued for searing opinion and his down-to-earth nature.

4. Damian Cronin

Whereas Doddie Weir – all skin and bones – was easy to throw skyward, Cronin has a much sturdier build and would hit rucks and carry the ball all day long. Good enough to earn 45 caps for Scotland, the now 57-year-old was part of 1990 Grand Slam and toured with the 1993 Lions.

At club level, he turned out for Bath and London Scottish in the amateur era before spending a few years as a professional with Wasps before retiring. He is now director of Woodstone, which provides wooden and stone flooring to the likes of Apple’s Covent Garden store and the Mandarin Oriental hotel group.

5. Doddie Weir

One of the most popular players in the game, he dominated the Scotland lineout for much of the nineties on his way to 60 caps. A career highlight came in 1997 when picked to play for the British and Irish Lions only for his Test dreams to be dashed by a rogue Springbok boot.

A player for Melrose before going south of the border to Newcastle Falcons, he was loved wherever he played. A larger-than-life character off the pitch with his 6ft 6in frame standing out in tartan threads, a motor neurone disease diagnosis in 2017 gained widespread attention and he has since raised over £4million towards MND research. He celebrates his 50th birthday next month.

6. Rob Wainwright

At 6ft 4ins, he was earmarked predominantly as a blindside for Scotland but could cover at No8 on occasion. Always spotted on the field due to his often blood-specked head strapping, the now 55-year-old was rated highly enough to be picked on the 1993 and 1997 Lions.

He also captained Scotland in the wake of Gavin Hastings’ retirement. Multi-talented off the pitch, he trained as a medical doctor in the army after studying medicine at Cambridge University but chose a different path after retiring, taking ownership of a farm with his wife and four children on the island of Coll (population 200) on the Inner Hebrides.

7. Iain Morrison

Hailing from Linlithgow, he was a classic openside who was fleet of foot and a terrier on the deck. He won 15 caps for Scotland and spent his entire club career at London Scottish, picking up two Cambridge Blues. Now 57, he has forged a successful journalism career, writing on rugby for The Sunday Herald, The Scotsman and now The Offside Line. His quarter-final appearance against New Zealand was his last at Test level.

8. Eric Peters

A tall, rangy No8, he made his name playing for Bath under the tutelage of Jack Rowell after attending Cambridge University where he picked up a Blue. A Pilkington Cup winner and former Scotland skipper, he shattered his knee cap in a collision with Tim Stimpson and was diagnosed with testicular cancer during his time off. Now 51, he went on to play for Harlequins and Connacht before retiring and taking up a job in real estate.

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J
Jon 50 minutes ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

34 Go to comments
j
john 3 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

15 Go to comments
A
Adrian 5 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

15 Go to comments
T
Trevor 8 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

21 Go to comments
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