Bruce Hamilton Hay (23 May 1950 – 1 October 2007) was a

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

international

rugby union player Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

Background

Hay was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

and educated at

Liberton High School Liberton High School is a secondary school in Liberton, in the south of Edinburgh, Scotland, which is located on Gilmerton Road. The school roll for the 2014–15 academic year was 610. Liberton High School has had certain great achievements ...

. From there he went on to work as an engineer for the

National Coal Board The National Coal Board (NCB) was the statutory corporation created to run the nationalised coal mining industry in the United Kingdom. Set up under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, it took over the United Kingdom's collieries on "v ...

. Latterly he worked as a sales representative.

Rugby Union career

Amateur career

Hay was a fullback. He started his rugby career at junior club Liberton, a team he captained at the age of 18, He then moved to play for Boroughmuir. He helped Boroughmuir win the

Scottish Unofficial Championship The Scottish Unofficial Championship was the top league of Scotland's best amateur rugby union clubs. The Championship was 'unofficial' as the Scottish Rugby Union held that the sport should remain amateur and at the time did not sanction competit ...

in 1973; and was still in their side when they won the

Melrose Sevens Melrose Sevens is an annual rugby sevens event held by Melrose Rugby Club, at The Greenyards in Melrose, Scotland. It is the oldest rugby sevens competition in the world, dating back to 1883 when the tournament was suggested by former Melrose ...

in 1976.

Provincial career

While still at Liberton he was capped by Edinburgh District. This was an astonishing feat for a junior club player and his tough tackling reputation was sealed. He carried on representing the district when he moved to Boroughmuir.

International career

It was when Hay moved to Boroughmuir in 1972 that he went on to gain international recognition. He gained 23 international caps for

and also represented the

British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

on both their 1977 and 1980 tours, and the

Barbarians A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by some to be less c ...

Stats

*International debut: 14 June 1975 v New Zealand in Auckland. Lost 24-0 *Final appearance: 20 June 1981 v New Zealand in Auckland. Lost 40-15 *Scotland: Caps: 23. Tries: 3 *Lions Tests: 3 (on 1980 South Africa tour). Tries: 1 (v South Africa)

Death

He was diagnosed with a

brain tumour A brain tumor occurs when abnormal cells form within the brain. There are two main types of tumors: malignant tumors and benign (non-cancerous) tumors. These can be further classified as primary tumors, which start within the brain, and secondary ...

in 2005 and died on 1 October 2007, aged 57.

References

External links

Obituary
in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'', 13 October 2007 1950 births 2007 deaths Deaths from brain tumor Neurological disease deaths in Scotland Deaths from cancer in Scotland Rugby union players from Edinburgh Scottish rugby union players Scotland international rugby union players British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Scotland Barbarian F.C. players Rugby union fullbacks Boroughmuir RFC players People educated at Liberton High School Liberton RFC players Edinburgh District (rugby union) players {{Scotland-rugbyunion-bio-stub