Nairn Alexander MacEwan (12 December 1941 – 31 May 2018) was a Scottish international

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

player and coach.Bath, p133Player profile
on scrum.com, retrieved 9 March 2010 He played at flanker, and was capped twenty times for Scotland between 1971 and 1975, including a try in the match against in 1972.

Playing career

MacEwan was born in

Dar-es-Salaam Dar es Salaam (; from ar, دَار السَّلَام, Dâr es-Selâm, lit=Abode of Peace) or commonly known as Dar, is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania. It is also the capital of Dar es Salaam Region. With a population of over ...

, modern

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

. Unusually for a top level Scottish rugby player, MacEwan was a Highlander, and Highland based. As

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 ...

says:

There have been fine players too who missed
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selection: ... Nairn MacEwan, a great mauler whose enthusiasm for the game was so great that he travelled thousands of miles between his home in Inverness and his club
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.

MacEwan helped

Highland RFC Highland Rugby Football Club is a rugby union amateur club from the city of Inverness that compete in the . They have a number of teams taken from different age groups including micros and minis, S1 and S2, Under-15, Under-16, Under-18 and senio ...

to their "years of glory in the Seventies, when guided and inspired by im they shot up through the divisions, but they have since fallen away, and are now a run of the mill Second Division outfit."

Bill McLaren William Pollock McLaren (16 October 1923 – 19 January 2010) was a Scottish rugby union commentator, teacher, journalist and one time rugby player. Known as 'the voice of rugby', he retired from commentating in 2002. Renowned throughout th ...

notes that

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 ...

included MacEwan in "one of the most formidable packs of all time", alongside the Scottish rugby greats like

Ian McLauchlan John McLauchlan (born 14 April 1942), known as Ian McLauchlan, is a former Scotland international rugby union player.Bath, p147 Nicknamed Mighty Mouse, he represented Scotland at loosehead prop from 1969 to 1979.Massie, p168 Rugby union care ...

Sandy Carmichael Alexander Bennett Carmichael Order of the British Empire, MBE (2 February 1944 – 27 October 2021) was a Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland international rugby union player.Bath, p123-4Massie, p169 Rugby Union career Amateur career ...

, Alistair McHarg,

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 (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chance ...

, Peter Brown and

Rodger Arneil Rodger Arneil (born 1 May 1944) is a former Scotland international rugby union player. He was played on two British and Irish Lions tours - to South Africa in 1968 and New Zealand in 1971, the second tour as a replacement. Rugby Union career ...

.McLaren, p. 181 However, once when Scotland played at

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, England coach John Burgess made the notorious comment,

I've seen this Scottish pack rucking. If it's blood on their boots they want, that's what they'll get.

Nairn MacEwan was taken off the field in this game after only two minutes.

Coaching

MacEwan became the second national coach for in 1977 (a position which was unpaid at the time), succeeding

, but was unsuccessful over the next three seasons—Scotland only won one game in this period. MacEwan was succeeded by

Jim Telfer James Telfer (born 17 March 1940) is a Scottish former rugby union 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 and Galashiels Academy and Forrester H ...

. MacEwan also coached the Italian side

Rugby Rovigo stadium, 200px Rugby Rovigo Delta, formerly known until 2010 as Rugby Rovigo, is an Italian rugby union club currently competing in the Top10. They are based in Rovigo, in Veneto. The club was founded in 1935 by medical student Dino Lanzoni, wh ...

. MacEwan died on 31 May 2018.

References

* Bath, Richard (ed.) (2007). ''The Scotland Rugby Miscellany''. Vision Sports Publishing. . * McLaren, Bill (1991). ''Talking of Rugby''. London: Stanley Paul. . * Massie, Allan. ''A Portrait of Scottish Rugby''. Edinburgh: Polygon. . 1941 births 2018 deaths Gala RFC players Highland RFC players North and Midlands players Scotland international rugby union players Scotland national rugby union team coaches Scottish rugby union coaches Scottish rugby union players Sportspeople from Dar es Salaam People educated at Morrison's Academy {{scotland-rugbyunion-bio-stub