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 for Scotland, 20 of which as captain. He played for
Watsonians,
London Scottish,
Cambridge University
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
,
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 ...
and the
British Lions. He twice toured with the
British and Irish 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
Magdalene College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Ma ...
, 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. 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 when he then turned out for
Scottish Exiles.
When the top sides of
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 ...
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. 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 and Irish Lions in 1986, against a
Rest of the World XV
British Lions v The Rest was a 1986 rugby union match that saw the British Lions play against ' The Rest' to celebrate the centenary of the International Rugby Football Board. The Rest consisted of players from Australia, France, New Zealand and ...
, 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 of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
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, Hastings was released at the end of the season.
Family
Hastings younger brother
Scott
Scott may refer to:
Places Canada
* Scott, Quebec, municipality in the Nouvelle-Beauce regional municipality in Quebec
* Scott, Saskatchewan, a town in the Rural Municipality of Tramping Lake No. 380
* Rural Municipality of Scott No. 98, Sask ...
was also a
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 ...
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 it ...
player.
His son,
Adam
Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...
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 ...
and also has represented
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 ...
. His niece,
Kerry-Anne represents
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 ...
at
Hockey.
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 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 ...
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
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 othe ...
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 Hastingson 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%). The ...
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