Finlay Calder
OBE (born 20 August 1957) is a
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
international former
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 it ...
player.
Rugby Union career
Amateur career
Born in
Haddington,
East Lothian and educated at
Stewart's Melville College
Stewart's Melville College (SMC) is an independent day and boarding school in Edinburgh, Scotland. Classes are all boys in the 1st to 5th years and co-educational in Sixth (final) year. It has a roll of about 750 pupils.
The school is twinned w ...
,
Calder played at open side
flanker. He played for
Stewart's Melville and
Heriots.
Provincial career
He played for
Edinburgh District. He was part of the side that won the
1986–87 Scottish Inter-District Championship.
He played for
Combined Scottish Districts
Combined Scottish Districts is a select Scottish provincial amateur rugby union team that draws its players from Glasgow District, Edinburgh District, North of Scotland District, Midlands District, South of Scotland District and Scottish Exi ...
on 1 March 1986 against
South of Scotland.
International career
He received 2 caps for
Scotland 'B' in 1983 to 1984.
His full international debut was against France in 1986.
He won 34 caps representing
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
from 1986 to 1991. His last international game was against
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
in the third-place play-off match in the
1991 Rugby World Cup
The 1991 Rugby World Cup was the second edition of the Rugby World Cup, and was jointly hosted by England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and France: at the time, the five European countries who participated in the Five Nations Championship. This was ...
.
He captained 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 ...
tour
Tour or Tours may refer to:
Travel
* Tourism, travel for pleasure
* Tour of duty, a period of time spent in military service
* Campus tour, a journey through a college or university's campus
* Guided tour, a journey through a location, directed ...
to
Australia in 1989.
Richard Bath wrote that
:"''Calder's ability to use his drive, determination and innate knowledge of the game to overcome his undoubted shortcomings - in particular he was always a bit slow for an out-and-out open-side - helped him become one of the most effective back-row operators of the modern era. If he and the other two members of the Grand Slam back row
John Jeffrey and
Derek White could not impose their own game, they certainly would make sure that the opposition could not impose theirs''".
When in 1989 Calder captained the Lions, he was the first Scottish player selected to do this since
Mike Campbell-Lamerton in 1966 and the first captain to lead the side to victory since Willie John McBride in 1974.
Honours
Calder was appointed OBE in the
1990 New Year Honours.
Family
His twin brother
Jim Calder also played for Scotland and the Lions.
[ The brothers never played in the same Scotland side; Jim won the last of his caps against Wales in March 1985 and Finlay made his debut against France in January 1986.
He has two children.
]
References
External links
Finlay Calder
- on the Sporting Heroes database
Fin Calder's Lions
- including nine Scottish players ( Gary Armstrong, Craig Chalmers
Craig Minto Chalmers (born 15 October 1968) is a former Scotland international rugby union player and coach. He represented Scotland, the British Lions and the Barbarians at international level. He made 60 international appearances as a player ...
, Peter Dods
Peter Dods (born 6 January 1958) is a former Scotland international rugby union player. His regular playing position was Fullback.
Rugby union career
Amateur career
Dods played for Gala at fullback.
Provincial career
Dods was capped by So ...
, John Jeffrey, Gavin Hastings
Andrew Gavin Hastings, (born 3 January 1962) is a Scottish former rugby union player. A fullback, he is widely regarded to be one of the best ever Scottish rugby players and was one of the outstanding players of his generation, winning 61 ...
, Scott Hastings, David Sole
David Michael Barclay Sole (born 8 May 1962) is a former Scotland international rugby union player.
He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1993 New Year Honours.
Rugby Union career
Amateur career
He was e ...
, Derek White and Finlay Calder himself)
Fin Calder looks back on the 1989 Lions tour to Australia
1957 births
Living people
British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Scotland
Heriot's RC players
Officers of the Order of the British Empire
People educated at Stewart's Melville College
Rugby union flankers
Rugby union players from Haddington, East Lothian
Scotland 'B' international rugby union players
Scotland international rugby union players
Scottish rugby union players
Stewart's Melville RFC players
Scottish twins
Twin sportspeople
Scottish Districts (combined) players
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