David Michael Barclay Sole (born 8 May 1962) is a former

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 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 ...

player. He was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(OBE) in the

1993 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1993 were appointments by most of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countr ...

Rugby Union career

Amateur career

He was educated at Blairmore prep school and

Glenalmond College Glenalmond College is a co-educational independent boarding school in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, for children aged between 12 and 18 years. It is situated on the River Almond near the village of Methven, about west of the city of Perth. T ...

, a private school in

Perthshire Perthshire (locally: ; gd, Siorrachd Pheairt), officially the County of Perth, is a historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, ...

. He went to Exeter University and played for their rugby side. He played for Bath and then moved to play for

Edinburgh Academicals The Edinburgh Academical Football Club, also known as Edinburgh Accies, is a rugby union club in Edinburgh, Scotland. The club is currently a member of the Scottish Premiership, the top tier of Scottish club rugby. Its home ground is Raeburn Pl ...

Provincial career

He played for

Scottish Exiles Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English * Scottish national identity, the Scottish id ...

(then Anglo-Scots) in the

Scottish Inter-District Championship The Scottish Inter-District Championship is a rugby union competition between regional sides in Scotland. Established in 1953, the tournament went through several formats. The Scottish Rugby Union confirmed in January 2023 that the Scottish In ...

. When he moved to play for Edinburgh Academicals, he then turned out for Edinburgh District.

International career

While still with Exeter University rugby club he was capped by Scotland 'B'. He received 5 'B' caps in total. He made his full senior

debut in 1986 against France and went on to win 44

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

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between 1986 and 1992, with a record 25 as captain.Bath, Richard (ed.) ''The Complete Book of Rugby'' (Seven Oaks Ltd, 1997 ),p160 He was also the first choice loosehead prop with the victorious British Lions in Australia in 1989. In 1990, Sole was captain for a

Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

decider at

Murrayfield Murrayfield is an affluent area to the west of Edinburgh city centre in Scotland. It is to the east of Corstorphine and north of Balgreen and Roseburn. The A8 road runs east–west through the south of the area. Murrayfield is often conside ...

against hot favourites

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. This is sometimes considered to be Scotland's greatest match, and one well remembered, as Richard Bath wrote: :"''David Sole is another of those players who is remembered and virtually defined by one moment: in this case it was when he made the decision for his side to take the now famous walk onto the pitch for the Grand Slam decider against

in 1990. As a statement of resolve, it was a masterstroke from which the English never recovered as they lost the most high-profile game in Five Nations Rugby history. It also cemented Sole's name in Scottish folklore...'' :"'' avid Sole wasone of the game's most softly-spoken and considered men off the field and one of the most inspirational and thoughtful captains and players on it.''" Scotland won 13-7, denying England the Grand Slam and claiming their third Grand Slam after their previous triumphs in 1925 and 1984. He captained a

World XV A World XV is a rugby union team organised on an unofficial, ''ad hoc'' basis and typically composed of invited players from various countries. Several World XVs have been arranged by various bodies, often to take part in celebration and testimoni ...

to a victory against the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987 ...

in 1992. He made his final international appearance for Scotland in 1992 against Australia. That year he stood for election as

Rector of the University of Dundee The rector of the University of Dundee is elected by the matriculated students of the University of Dundee. From 1967 (when the university gained independence from the University of St. Andrews) to 2010, the rector was automatically a full membe ...

, but despite being the favourite candidate he was defeated by

Stephen Fry Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director and writer. He first came to prominence in the 1980s as one half of the comic double act Fry and Laurie, alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring ...

Media career

Since retiring Sole has worked as a co-commentator for BBC Scotland's coverage of rugby union matches.

Business career

He has also embarked on a successful career outside of sport, becoming

Managing Partner A partner in a law firm, accounting firm, consulting firm, or financial firm is a highly ranked position, traditionally indicating co-ownership of a partnership in which the partners were entitled to a share of the profits as "equity partners". The ...

of "School for CEOs'" in 2017 as well as

Non-executive director A non-executive director (abbreviated to non-exec, NED or NXD), independent director or external director is a member of the board of directors of a corporation, such as a company, cooperative or non-government organization, but not a member of the ...

of AM Bid Services.

Family

Three of Sole's four children have also represented their country in international sport. His sons

Chris Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, Christine, and Christos. Chris is also used as a name in its own right, however it is not as common. People with the given name * Chris Abani (born 1966), N ...

and Tom both play for the

Scotland cricket team The Scotland national cricket team represents the country of Scotland. They play their home matches at The Grange, Edinburgh, and also some other venues. Scotland became Associate Members of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 1994

, while his daughter Gemma plays for the Scotland netball team. His other son Jamie is also a rugby player, and played professionally with

Newcastle Falcons Newcastle Falcons is a rugby union team that play in Premiership Rugby, England's highest division of rugby union. The club was established in 1877 as the Gosforth Football Club. Around 1882 the club merged with the Northumberland Football Cl ...

References

;Sources
Canny Hadden will have spotted chinks in England's armour
Telegraph, 25 February 2006
Sole backs Scots to shock England
The Scotsman, 15 February 2006

Telegraph, 14 February 2006

- Telegraph, 21 March 2005

External links

David Sole
in

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its par ...

newspaper
David Sole, Executive Coaching Consultant

David Sole at Rugby Heroes Part 1

David Sole at Rugby Heroes Part 2

David Sole at Rugby Heroes Part 1 (International Caps)

David Sole at Rugby Heroes Part 2 (International Caps)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sole, David 1962 births Living people Alumni of the University of Exeter Barbarian F.C. players Bath Rugby players British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Scotland Edinburgh Academicals rugby union players Edinburgh District (rugby union) players Officers of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Glenalmond College Rugby union players from Aylesbury Rugby union props Scotland 'B' international rugby union players Scotland international rugby union players Scottish Exiles (rugby union) players Scottish rugby union commentators Scottish rugby union players