Iain Angus McLeod Paxton (born 29 December 1957) 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. He won 36 caps for
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 ...
at
number eight and lock between 1981 and 1988, scoring a total of five
tries.
[Bath, p153] He also won four caps for the
British Lions against New Zealand in 1983.
Playing career
Selkirk
Paxton's old playing club was Selkirk.
Scotland
Paxton made his Scotland debut against New Zealand
All Blacks
The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...
on the
1981 tour and later that year he helped Scotland to a memorable 24-15 win over
Australia at
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 con ...
. He was also a key figure in Scotland’s
1984 Grand Slam winning side, playing in all matches, relegating
John Beattie to the bench.
[
When he finished his career in 1988, Paxton was Scotland's most capped No. 8 with 36 caps.][
]
British Lions
Paxton was a member of the 1983 British Lions tour to New Zealand and played in all four internationals for the Lions.
Playing attributes
Richard Bath writes of him that:
:"''Against Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
in particular, Paxton was in superb form, scoring one of the greatest tries ever scored at Cardiff Arms Park
Cardiff Arms Park ( cy, Parc yr Arfau Caerdydd), also known as The Arms Park, is situated in the centre of Cardiff, Wales. It is primarily known as a rugby union stadium, but it also has a bowling green. The Arms Park was host to the British ...
as Scotland beat Wales at home for the first time since 1962.''"[
]
Coaching career
Paxton began his coaching career at Glenrothes RFC
Glenrothes RFC or "The Glens" are a rugby union club based in Glenrothes, Fife, Scotland. Home matches are played at Carleton Park, Glenrothes.
History
Founded in 1965, the club recently celebrated their 50th anniversary.
Glenrothes currently ...
then moved to Boroughmuir, during which time the Meggetland outfit have lifted the SRU Cup twice (2000 and 2001) and taken the league title once (2002–03 season).
He then went on to Coach the Scotland Under 21 team achieving a notable away victory over England. He went on to be appointed as forwards coach for Edinburgh Rugby. He returned to Club rugby with his old club Selkirk as Youth Development Manager In 2016, he was appointed as Director Of Rugby at Boroughmuir.
References
* Bath, Richard (ed.) ''The Complete Book of Rugby'' (Seven Oaks Ltd, 1997 )
External links
Paxton's passion can see Scots second string become future force
- The Scotsman, 6 March 2005
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paxton, Iain
1957 births
Living people
Scottish rugby union players
Scotland international rugby union players
British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Scotland
Rugby union number eights
Rugby union locks
Scottish rugby union coaches
Boroughmuir RFC players
People educated at Beath High School
Place of birth missing (living people)
Glenrothes RFC players