John McLauchlan (born 14 April 1942), known as Ian McLauchlan, is a former

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 ...

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.Bath, p147 Nicknamed Mighty Mouse, he represented

at loosehead

prop A prop, formally known as (theatrical) property, is an object used on stage or screen by actors during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinc ...

from 1969 to 1979.Massie, p168

Rugby union career

Amateur career

He played for

Jordanhill Jordanhill ( sco, Jordanhull, gd, Cnoc Iòrdain)
is an ...

and West of Scotland. His scrummaging and loose play were both of a high standard. Fellow West of Scotland and

international player

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in Tony B ...

rated him the best prop he had played alongside. His nickname "Mighty Mouse" was from the fact that he was relatively small for a prop, but powerful for his size, like the cartoon character of the same name: :"''Like McLeod, Ian McLauchlan was short and about as broad as a church door... There was always something a bit odd about his figure even before he acquired a certain rotundity that made him more like a French than a British prop. But nobody found him easy to prop against: he burrowed under the opposition.''"

Provincial career

He played for Glasgow District.

International career

He was capped 43 times for Scotland, and was captain of the national side nineteen times (ten times of which Scotland won). He had to wait until second half of his twenties for a cap, and played for another ten years, before being dropped in 1979.Massie, p169 He became a Scotland captain, and even led them in the

Calcutta Cup The Calcutta Cup is the trophy awarded to the winner of the rugby match between England and Scotland played annually in the Six Nations Championship. Like the match itself (England–Scotland), the Calcutta Cup is the oldest trophy contested be ...

match of 1973, despite breaking a bone in his leg two weeks before against , according to Massie "it says much for the persuasive power of his character that he convinced the selectors he was able to play." Richard Bath writes: :"''Certainly, McLauchlan was not the conventional size and shape for a loose-head prop in the 1970s, but in many ways it was precisely the combination of an amazing power to weight ratio plus his ability to get under the opposing tight-head that made him such an effective performer in the tight... As a larger than life character, he played best in the most intimidating circumstances... making him one of Scotland's most successful captains. After his retirement the

Scottish Rugby Union The Scottish Rugby Union (SRU; gd, Aonadh Rugbaidh na h-Alba) is the governing body of rugby union in Scotland. Styled as Scottish Rugby, it is the second oldest Rugby Union, having been founded in 1873. The SRU oversees the national league s ...

showed their gratitude by banning him for publishing his autobiography''". On the Lions tour to New Zealand in 1971 he played in all four tests after Irish prop Ray McLaughlin broke his thumb punching

Alex Wyllie Alexander John "Grizz" Wyllie (born 30 August 1944) is a New Zealand rugby union former player and coach. Playing career Wyllie began his rugby career playing for Glenmark Rugby Club, in North Canterbury. During his first-class career he playe ...

in the notorious Battle of Canterbury the week before the first test. He played in eight tests for the British Lions on the 1971 tour to New Zealand and the 1974 tour to South Africa, only once finishing on the losing side.

Administrative career

McLauchlan became the 122nd President of the

. He served two years from 2010 to 2012.

References

;Sources # Bath, Richard (ed.) ''The Complete Book of Rugby'' (Seven Oaks Ltd, 1997 ) # Massie, Allan ''A Portrait of Scottish Rugby'' (Polygon, Edinburgh; ) {{DEFAULTSORT:McLauchlan, Ian 1942 births Living people British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Scotland Glasgow District (rugby union) players Jordanhill RFC players Officers of the Order of the British Empire Presidents of the Scottish Rugby Union Rugby union players from South Ayrshire Rugby union props Scotland international rugby union players Scottish rugby union players West of Scotland FC players