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

for Scotland, 20 of which as captain. He played for

Watsonians Watsonian Football Club is a rugby union club based in Edinburgh and part of the Scottish Rugby Union. The club is connected with George Watson's College as a club for former pupils, and changed its policy in the 1980s to be a fully open club, ...

, London Scottish,

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

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 ...

and the British Lions. He twice toured with 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 ...

, 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 The University of the West of Scotland ( gd, Oilthigh na h-Alba an Iar), formerly the University of Paisley, is a public university with four campuses in south-western Scotland, in the towns of Paisley, Renfrewshire, Paisley, Blantyre, South Lanar ...

), 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 The Gallaher Shield is awarded to the winner of the Auckland Rugby Football Union senior premier competition, and was first awarded in 1922. The shield is named in honour of Dave Gallaher, an early stalwart of Ponsonby, Auckland and New Zealand ...

with

Auckland University , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

. In Scotland, Hastings played for

Provincial and professional career

Hastings played for Edinburgh District in the era before professionalism, before switching to the club side London Scottish when he then turned out for Scottish Exiles. When the top sides of

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. Hastings made his debut for Scotland against France in 1986 and was a central figure in Scotland's 1990 Five Nations Grand Slam. Hastings's final game was on 11 June 1995 against New Zealand in Pretoria at the quarter-finals of the

1995 Rugby World Cup The 1995 Rugby World Cup was the third Rugby World Cup. It was hosted and won by South Africa, and was the first Rugby World Cup in which every match was held in one country. The World Cup was the first major sporting event to take place in Sou ...

. By the end of that match he had scored 667 international points, a Scottish record that stood until surpassed by

Chris Paterson Christopher Douglas Paterson, MBE (born 30 March 1978) is an ambassador and specialist coach for the Scotland and Edinburgh rugby union teams. He is a former professional rugby union player who played for Scotland and, for the most part of h ...

in 2008. Hastings captained Scotland on 20 occasions including at the 1995 World Cup. Hastings first played for the

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

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), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

team in the NFL Europe. He played a single season as a placekicker scoring 24 of 27 conversions but missed his only attempt at a field goal. Despite the Claymores winning the

World Bowl The World Bowl was the annual American football championship game of the World League of American Football/NFL Europe. The World Bowl was played each year from 1991 to 2007 (except 1993 and 1994). The game was conceived as the final of the NFL-r ...

, Hastings was released at the end of the season.

Family

Hastings younger brother Scott was also a

international

player. His son, Adam plays for

Glasgow Warriors Glasgow Warriors are a professional rugby union side from Scotland. The team plays in the United Rugby Championship league and in the European Professional Club Rugby tournaments. In the 2014–15 season they won the Pro12 title and became t ...

and also has represented

. His niece, Kerry-Anne represents

Hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

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

Honours and awards

Hastings awarded an Honorary Blue from

Heriot Watt University Heriot-Watt University ( gd, Oilthigh Heriot-Watt) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and subsequently granted univ ...

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 contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in 1993 for services to rugby union. Hastings was inducted into the

International Rugby Hall of Fame The International Rugby Hall of Fame (IRHOF) was a hall of fame for rugby union. It was created in 1997 in New Zealand and is run as a charitable trust with an address at Chiswick in London. Most of the trustees are also inductees. IRHOF acc ...

in 2003 and later into the

World Rugby Hall of Fame The World Rugby Hall of Fame (formerly the IRB Hall of Fame) recognises special achievement and contribution to the sport of rugby union. The World Rugby Hall of Fame covers players, coaches, administrators, match officials, institutions and other ...

in 2013. Since its formation in 2001, Hastings has been the Patron of

Sandpiper Trust Sandpiper Trust is a Scottish-based charity whose aims are related to improving pre-hospital immediate care in remote and rural Scotland. It receives no Government, NHS or Local Authority funding. They are a major supporter of BASICS Scotland. H ...

, 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
on the Sporting Heroes website

profile on the

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...

website {{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 Watsonians RFC 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