Lex Govan (1914 - July 1996) was a Scottish

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 was the 92nd President of the Scottish Rugby Union.

Rugby Union career

Amateur career

He played rugby union and cricket for Daniel Stewart's College. On leaving school he played for

Stewart's College FP Stewart's College FP RFC was a Scottish rugby union club in Edinburgh. Founded The club was founded in 1875, when a match took place between the former pupils of Daniel Stewart's Hospital and George Watson's College. In 1887, the club became ...

, playing in the 1st XV at the age of 17. He was one of the side that won the 1937-38

Scottish Unofficial Championship The Scottish Unofficial Championship was the top league of Scotland's best amateur rugby union clubs. The Championship was 'unofficial' as the Scottish Rugby Union held that the sport should remain amateur and at the time did not sanction competit ...

; the first championship title in the club's history. During the Second World War he joined the Royal Scots but he was back at

in 1946 and the club won another championship title.

Provincial career

Govan played for the

Scotland Probables 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 ...

in the 1934-35 season. He was never selected for Scotland; the closest he came was being the reserve hooker in the 1946-47 season. He was capped for Edinburgh District and captained the side.

Administrative career

He served on the

committee and was President of the club 1956 to 1958. He was on the selection committee of Edinburgh District from 1958 to 1961. He was elected to the SRU as a District representative in 1961. Govan was on the SRU selection committee from 1962 to 1973. He was also a

British and 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 ...

selector. When on the SRU committee Govan persuaded the Scotland selectors that a Head Coach style appointment would be better to look after the team rather than the captain. The person Govan had in mind was

Bill Dickinson Bill Dickinson (1917 – 7 April 1994) was a Scottish rugby union player and coach. He was appointed the first official national coach of in 1971.Bath, p133 Richard Bath points out that Dickinson's appointment made an "immediate impact" in ...

. Officially termed an 'advisor to the captain' Dickinson was able to coach the players but not have a role in selection. Govan recalled:

I had a bit of a job persuading other members to my way of thinking. Once I had won them round Bill Dickinson was the only candidate. Bill was so enthusiastic and so full of rugby. He was also a very good communicator and once the chaps had confidence in him he took Scottish rugby quite a way forward.

He was Vice-President of the SRU in 1977. Govan became the 92nd President of the Scottish Rugby Union. He served the standard one year from 1978 to 1979. As President of the Scottish Rugby Union one of the standard roles was to give the players a stirring speech before kick off in test matches.

Jim Renwick Jim Renwick (born 12 February 1952) is a former Scotland international rugby union player. He played at Centre.Bath, p154 Rugby Union career Amateur career He played for Hawick Harlequins and then moved to play for Hawick. Provincial care ...

recalled Govan's speeches were different: they were to the point:

When Lex Govan was President he used to say things like: 'I've only got three words to say to you boys: Fire and F**king fury!' It was always four or five words instead of three and I remember
Ian McGeechan Sir Ian Robert McGeechan, OBE (born 30 October 1946) is a retired Scottish rugby union player, coach and teacher. Born in Leeds, McGeechan represented Headingley as his only club during a 15-year club career, qualifying for Scotland through hi ...
used to aye laugh at that.

Military career

During the Second World War, Govan joined the Royal Scots.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Govan, Lex 1914 births 1996 deaths Scottish rugby union players Presidents of the Scottish Rugby Union Rugby union players from Edinburgh Stewart's College FP players Edinburgh District (rugby union) players Scotland Probables players Rugby union hookers