James Telfer (born 17 March 1940) 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 its m ...

coach and player. As a player, he won 21 international caps in the amateur era, also having a career as a headmaster at

Hawick High School Hawick High School is a non-denominational secondary school in Hawick, in the Scottish Borders. As well as serving the town, it also takes in pupils from as far away as Newcastleton. History The first mention of educational provision in the a ...

and Galashiels Academy and Forrester High School as a chemistry teacher. With Sir Ian McGeechan he had success with both the Scotland national team and the British Lions.

Playing career

Telfer played for

Melrose RFC Melrose may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Melrose, Scottish Borders, a town in the Scottish Borders, Scotland ** Melrose Abbey, ruined monastery ** Melrose RFC, rugby club Australia * Melrose, Queensland, a locality in the South Burnett ...

and was still a student when he was first selected for international duties. He later worked as a chemistry teacher. His first cap came against France at Murrayfield on 4 January 1964. His last match for Scotland was on 28 February 1970 at Lansdowne Road against Ireland. Telfer gained twenty one caps for Scotland, and, but for injury, might have gained more.

Allan Massie Allan Johnstone Massie (born 16 October 1938) is a Scottish journalist, columnist, sports writer and novelist. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. He has lived in the Scottish Borders for the last 25 years, and now lives in Se ...

wrote of him: :''"Telfer is a man of innate authority. (There's a wealth of quiet reserve and self-knowledge, touched by that form of self-mockery which appears as under-statement, in the way he will describe himself as being a 'dominant personality')''"Massie, p189 Telfer played back row for

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 the ...

and for the British Lions in 1966 and 1968. He was impressed and heavily influenced by New Zealand rugby. After a

cartilage Cartilage is a resilient and smooth type of connective tissue. In tetrapods, it covers and protects the ends of long bones at the joints as articular cartilage, and is a structural component of many body parts including the rib cage, the neck an ...

operation he slowed up. He played 23 games for the British Lions on their 1966 tour to Australia and New Zealand and 11 games on their 1968 tour to South Africa. Between 1963 and 1967, he played 8 times for 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 les ...

, scoring six points. George Crerar said of him "The great thing about Jim Telfer is that he makes sure that if he isn't going to win the ball the other side won't get it either.''"

Coaching career

Telfer was head coach to the British Lions on their tour of New Zealand in 1983. He was assistant coach, with particular responsibility for the forwards, on the 1997 British Lions tour to South Africa, where he made his well-known motivational 'Everest' speech to the forwards before the 1st Test. Telfer coached Scotland to the Grand Slam in 1984 and, as assistant to Ian McGeechan, to his second Grand Slam in 1990. In his third term as head coach from 1998 to 1999, Scotland won the final Five Nations Championship. In 2014 he was coaching the Melrose RFC Under-18 team �
Melrose Wasps
Telfer has been open about copying some New Zealand approaches to the game.

Coaching statistics

Scotland (1981–1984)

International matches as head coach

Record by country

Scotland (1993–1995, 1998–1999)

The period 1995–98 saw Telfer promoted as director of rugby for 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 ...

Richie Dixon Richie Dixon (born c. 1947) is a former rugby union footballer, the former head coach of the Scotland national team, the Georgia national team and Glasgow Caledonians (now known as Glasgow Warriors). He was head of Physical Education at Currie ...

was the head coach of the Scotland National team during this time. Telfer stepped in as head coach of Scotland when Dixon quit in 1998.

International matches as head coach

Record by country

Honours

In 2021,

World Rugby World Rugby is the world governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international rug ...

inducted Telfer into its

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 ...

, alongside

Osea Kolinisau Osea Kolinisau, OF (born 17 November 1985) is a Fijian rugby union player who plays for Old Glory DC of Major League Rugby (MLR). He captained the Fiji Sevens side to their first olympic gold medal in the 2016 Rio Olympics. Early life and edu ...

Humphrey Kayange Humphrey Kayange (born 20 July 1982) is a Kenyan former rugby union player and organic chemist. Kayange is known within the rugby sevens community, as he has produced some of the best performances for the Kenya national sevens side. He is a f ...

Huriana Manuel Huriana Manuel-Carpenter (born 8 August 1986) is a New Zealand rugby union player. She plays for the Black Ferns, the New Zealand women's sevens team and Auckland. Rugby career Manuel was part of the Black Ferns squad that won the 2006 and ...

, Cheryl McAfee and

Will Carling William David Charles Carling (born 12 December 1965) is an English former rugby union player. He was England's youngest captain, aged 22, and won 72 caps from 1988 to 1996, captaining England 59 times. Under his captaincy, England won Five ...

As a player

* **

Five Nations Championship The Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) is an annual international men's rugby union competition between the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. The current champions ar ...

*** Winner: 1964 ***

Runner-up {{Short pages monitor