Francis Andrew Linden Laidlaw (born 20 September 1940) 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 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 ...

Bath, p119

Rugby Union career

Amateur career

He played for Melrose.

Norman Mair Norman George Robertson Mair (7 October 1928 – 7 December 2014) was a Scottish international rugby union and cricket player.Bath, p105 He later became a journalist for ''The Scotsman'' reporting on rugby and golf,McLaren, p88 and also wro ...

once said that Frank Laidlaw regarded the loss of his own ball as he would a family bereavement.

Provincial career

He played for a Scottish Border XV on 10 October 1962 in a warm up for that year's championship and to secure selection to the South side. He played for South of Scotland District. He played for the

Whites Trial White is a racialized classification of people and a skin color specifier, generally used for people of European origin, although the definition can vary depending on context, nationality, and point of view. Description of populations as ...

side on 15 December 1962, 9 February 1963 and 2 March 1963.

International career

He was capped thirty-two times for Scotland as a hooker between 1964 and 1971 and captained his country twice.McLaren, p133 His 1966 game against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

was what was known as "the Melrose Game" by

Bill McLaren William Pollock McLaren (16 October 1923 – 19 January 2010) was a Scottish rugby union commentator, teacher, journalist and one time rugby player. Known as 'the voice of rugby', he retired from commentating in 2002. Renowned throughout th ...

because his club, Melrose, had four players on the national side: the others being

Alex Hastie Alexander James Hastie (29 July 1935 – 7 June 2010), also known as Alex Hastie or Eck Hastie was a Scotland international rugby union player. He played at Scrum-half; and was commonly linked with David Chisholm, his pairing at Fly-half for ...

David Chisholm David Chisholm ( St. Boswells, 23 January 1937 – Borders, 27 July 1998) was a Scottish rugby union player.Bath, p. 138 He played as a fly-half. He had 14 caps for Scotland, from 1964 to 1968, scoring 1 try and 4 drop goals, 15 points on aggre ...

and

Jim Telfer James Telfer (born 17 March 1940) is a Scottish former rugby union coach and player. As a player, he won 21 international caps in the amateur era, also having a career as a headmaster at Hawick High School and Galashiels Academy and Forrester H ...

. Scotland won 11–5. He toured twice with the

British & 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 ...

:- to Australia and New Zealand in 1966 and New Zealand in 1971.

Outside of rugby

He is a proponent of

Scientology Scientology is a set of beliefs and practices invented by American author L. Ron Hubbard, and an associated movement. It has been variously defined as a cult, a business, or a new religious movement. The most recent published census data indi ...

References

;Sources * Bath, Richard – ''A Scottish Rugby Miscellany'' * McLaren, Bill – ''Talking of Rugby'' * Massie, Allan ''A Portrait of Scottish Rugby'' (Polygon, Edinburgh; ) 1940 births Living people Barbarian F.C. players British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Scotland Melrose RFC players Rugby union hookers Rugby union players from Hawick Scotland international rugby union players Scottish rugby union players Scottish Scientologists South of Scotland District (rugby union) players Whites Trial players {{Scotland-rugbyunion-bio-stub