Andrew Gavin Hastings, (born 3 January 1962) is a Scottish former

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

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 caps for Scotland, 20 of which as captain. He played for Watsonians, London Scottish,

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and the British Lions. He twice toured with the Lions, to Australia in 1989 and as captain on the 1993 tour to New Zealand.

Early life

Hastings was born in Edinburgh, and was educated at George Watson's College, Edinburgh, Paisley College of Technology (now the University of the West of Scotland), and Magdalene College, Cambridge, where he read Land Economy and graduated with a BA in 1986.

Rugby union career

Amateur career

Hastings captained the victorious 1985 Cambridge University side, and during his sabbatical year he won the Gallaher Shield with Auckland University Rugby Football Club. In Scotland, Hastings played for Watsonians.

Provincial and professional career

Hastings played for Edinburgh District in the era before professionalism, before switching to the club side London Scottish, and also then turned out for the Scottish Exiles. When rugby union turned professional in 1996, he was still playing for London Scottish.

International career

Hastings captained the first Scottish schoolboys' side to win on English soil. He won 5 caps for Scotland 'B' between 1983 and 1985. Hastings made his debut for Scotland against France in 1986 and was a central figure in Scotland's 1990 Five Nations Grand Slam. In February 1995 he became the holder of a record number of Scottish caps when he made his 53rd full international appearance, passing Colin Deans and Jim Renwick. Hastings's final game was on 11 June 1995 against New Zealand in Pretoria at the quarter-finals of the 1995 Rugby World Cup. By the end of that match he had scored 667 international points, a Scottish record that stood until surpassed by Chris Paterson in 2008. Hastings captained Scotland on 20 occasions including at the 1995 World Cup. Hastings first played for the British Lions in 1986, against a Rest of the World XV, before playing in all three tests of the successful 1989 tour to Australia and against France in 1989. He was captain on the 1993 tour to New Zealand, where the Lions lost the test series 2–1.

Administrative career

On 30 August 2007 Hastings was announced as the chairman of the new

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

professional rugby club.

American football career

In 1996, Hasting joined the Scottish Claymores, an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

team in the

NFL Europe NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa) was a professional American football league that functioned as the List of developmental and minor sports leagues, developmental minor league of the Nati ...

. He played a single season as a

placekicker In gridiron football, the placekicker (PK), or simply kicker (K), is the player responsible for attempts at scoring Field goal (football), field goals and extra points. In most cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist ...

, scoring 24 of 27 conversions, but missed his only attempt at a field goal. Despite the Claymores winning the World Bowl, Hastings was released at the end of the season.

Family

Hastings' younger brother Scott was also a Scotland international player. His son,

Adam Adam is the name given in Genesis 1–5 to the first human. Adam is the first human-being aware of God, and features as such in various belief systems (including Judaism, Christianity, Gnosticism and Islam). According to Christianity, Adam ...

plays for Gloucester Rugby and also has represented Scotland. His niece, Kerry-Anne, represents

at hockey. Hastings' wife Diane, whom he married in 1993, was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease in 2003. Hastings's nickname is "Big Gav".

Honours and awards

Hastings awarded an Honorary Blue from Heriot Watt University in 1995 for his contribution to sport at a national level. Hastings was awarded the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in 1993 for services to rugby union. Hastings was inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame in 2003 and later into the World Rugby Hall of Fame in 2013. Since its formation in 2001, Hastings has been the Patron of Sandpiper Trust, a Scottish charity which provides life-saving medical equipment to rural doctors, nurses and paramedics across Scotland.

International tries

Scotland

British & Irish Lions

References

External links

Gavin Hastings
at Sporting Heroes * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hastings, Gavin 1962 births Living people Alumni of Magdalene College, Cambridge University of Auckland alumni Cambridge University R.U.F.C. players Rugby union players from Edinburgh Scottish rugby union players Rugby union fullbacks British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Scotland Barbarian F.C. players London Scottish F.C. players Watsonian FC players Scottish players of American football Officers of the Order of the British Empire People educated at George Watson's College World Rugby Hall of Fame inductees Scottish Claymores players American football placekickers Footballers who switched code Scotland international rugby union players Edinburgh District (rugby union) players Alumni of the University of the West of Scotland Scotland 'B' international rugby union players 1987 Rugby World Cup players 1991 Rugby World Cup players 1995 Rugby World Cup players