Greig Laidlaw (born 12 October 1985) is a Scottish professional

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 its m ...

player. He plays as a scrum-half and as a

fly-half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...

for Shining Arcs. Laidlaw holds the record for most caps as captain, 39, of the Scottish national team. He also represented 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 ...

in 2017. Although Laidlaw is a scrum half, he is often used as the first-choice goal kicker by his teams. Laidlaw has scored over 700 points for Scotland in his career and is one of the highest points scorers in rugby union history.

Early life

A nephew of Scotland scrum half

Roy Laidlaw Roy James Laidlaw (born 5 October 1953) is a former Scotland international rugby union player.Bath, pp145, 146 Rugby Union career Amateur career Much of his domestic rugby was played with Jed-Forest RFC, who were in the Scottish Second Divi ...

, he joined

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 ...

in the summer of 2006. His first-team opportunities were limited at first behind Scotland scrum half

Mike Blair Michael Robert Leighton Blair (born 20 April 1981) is a Scottish rugby union coach who was formerly a professional player. He is the head coach of Edinburgh. He played at scrum-half for Glasgow Warriors, Newcastle Falcons, CA Brive and Edin ...

, but in 2010 he signed a new two-year contract. Laidlaw's earlier representative rugby included games for Borders under-16 and under-18 as well as Scotland under-18. After stints with the Scotland sevens and under-21 sides, he made his full Scotland debut 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 ...

Murrayfield Murrayfield is an affluent area to the west of Edinburgh city centre in Scotland. It is to the east of Corstorphine and north of Balgreen and Roseburn. The A8 road runs east–west through the south of the area. Murrayfield is often conside ...

in November 2010. In January 2011, he was called up to Scotland's Six Nations squad and, although he did not get any game time, he was retained in Andy Robinson's 40-man squad ahead of the World Cup. He captained Scotland A to wins over the

Ireland Wolfhounds The Ireland Wolfhounds (formerly Ireland A and Ireland B) are the second national rugby union team of Ireland, behind the Ireland national team. They previously competed in the Churchill Cup together with the England Saxons, the national teams ...

and Italy A in early 2011, and then skippered Edinburgh in the

Celtic League The Celtic League is a pan-Celtic organisation, founded in 1961, that aims to promote modern Celtic identity and culture in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall and the Isle of Man – referred to as the Celtic nations; it places part ...

Club career

On 4 March 2014 it was announced that Laidlaw would depart Murrayfield at the end of the season and join

English Premiership The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

side

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

. After spending three seasons with English Premiership side Gloucester, Laidlaw would depart Kingsholm at the end of 2016–17 season and join French

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

side

Clermont Auvergne Association Sportive Montferrandaise Clermont Auvergne () is a French rugby union club from Clermont-Ferrand in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes that currently competes in Top 14, the top level of the French league system. Clermont are two times French ...

on a three-year deal. Laidlaw joined Japanese side Shining Arcs ahead of the 2020–21 Top League season.

International career

Scotland

Laidlaw became a regular part of the Scotland team during the

2012 Six Nations The 2012 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2012 RBS 6 Nations due to the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 13th series of the Six Nations Championship. The annual northern hemisphere rugby union championship was ...

, following

Dan Parks Daniel Arthur Parks (born 26 May 1978) is an Australian-born former international rugby union player and now coach. His primary playing position was at fly-half. Parks played professionally for Pro12 sides Glasgow Warriors, Cardiff Blues an ...

' sudden retirement after the first round of the tournament. He took on the kicking duties, and in his first start against Wales he scored all of Scotland's 13 points, including a try. He remained at fly-half throughout the rest of 2012 at both international and club level, and captained Edinburgh to a semi-final appearance in that year's

Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

. The

2013 Six Nations The 2013 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2013 RBS 6 Nations because of the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 14th series of the Six Nations Championship, the annual northern hemisphere rugby union championsh ...

saw

Ruaridh Jackson Ruaridh James Howard Jackson (born 12 February 1988) is a former Scotland international rugby union player. He previously played for Glasgow Warriors in the Pro14. Jackson started his career playing at fly-half, but soon transitioned to playin ...

recalled to the national side, so Laidlaw was shifted back to scrum-half while still taking Scotland's kicks. He was second-leading scorer of the season with 61 points, behind Wales'

Leigh Halfpenny Stephen Leigh Halfpenny (born 22 December 1988) is a Welsh rugby union player who plays as a fullback (rugby union), fullback or wing (rugby union), wing for the Scarlets, Wales national rugby union team, Wales and the British & Irish Lions. Hal ...

. He was left out of the 2013 Lions squad, instead heading to the South African Quadrangular Tournament with Scotland. He kicked a last-minute conversion against Italy to salvage something from an underwhelming tournament, giving Scotland a 30–29 victory. He continued to captain Edinburgh throughout the 2013–14 season, missing out on a place in the

Amlin Challenge Cup The EPCR Challenge Cup is an annual rugby union competition organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the second-tier competition for clubs based in European leagues behind the European Rugby Champions Cup. From its inception ...

on points difference. Laidlaw was also named as the captain of Scotland internationally in 2013, and has since captained the country 39 times, the most of any Scottish player. Laidlaw missed the 2017 Six Nations Championship due to injury, with flanker John Barclay standing in as captain during Laidlaw's absence. Laidlaw returned to Scotland for the

2018 Six Nations Championship The 2018 Six Nations Championship (known as the Natwest 6 Nations for sponsorship reasons) was the 19th Six Nations Championship, the annual international rugby union tournament for the six major European rugby union nations. The championship wa ...

, retaining his place as a regular starter under new coach

Gregor Townsend Gregor Peter John Townsend, (born 26 April 1973) is a Scottish rugby union coach and former player. He is currently the head coach of the Scotland national team having previously been an assistant coach from 2009 to 2012. As a player, he won ...

. With injury to John Barclay, Laidlaw was reinstated as the Scottish Captain during the

2018 end-of-year rugby union internationals The 2018 end of year rugby union tests, also referred to as the Autumn internationals in the Northern Hemisphere, were a number of rugby union test matches played during October and November, primarily involving countries from the Northern Hemisphe ...

. After 7 years playing for and captaining the national side Laidlaw retired from international rugby in December 2019. Laidlaw's 714 points in 76 test matches places him second on the Scotland all-time points list behind

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 hi ...

British & Irish Lions

On 6 May 2017, Laidlaw was called up to

2017 British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand The British & Irish Lions toured New Zealand during June and July 2017. The Lions, a rugby union team selected from players eligible to represent England, Ireland, Scotland or Wales, played ten matches: against all five New Zealand Super Rugby fr ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

international

Ben Youngs Benjamin Ryder Youngs (born 5 September 1989) is an English professional rugby union player who plays as a scrum-half for Leicester Tigers and . He made his club debut at 17 in 2007 and in 2010 made his debut for England; in 2022 he became En ...

withdrew from the tour party due to family reasons.

Barbarians

In 2018, Greig Laidlaw was capped with the

Barbarians A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by some to be less c ...

against

during the mid-year rugby tests. He scored a conversion and a try, helping his team beat England 45–63 at

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...

References

External links

Scotland Rugby ProfileGloucester Rugby Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Laidlaw, Greig 1985 births Living people ASM Clermont Auvergne players Barbarian F.C. players British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Scotland Edinburgh Rugby players Expatriate rugby union players in France Gloucester Rugby players Male rugby sevens players People educated at Jedburgh Grammar School Rugby union fly-halves Rugby union players from Edinburgh Rugby union scrum-halves Scotland international rugby union players Scottish expatriate rugby union players Scottish expatriate sportspeople in France Scottish rugby union players Urayasu D-Rocks players