Roger Baird (born 12 April 1960 in Kelso,

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 ...

) is a former

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 its m ...

player.

Rugby Union career

Amateur career

Baird attended St. Mary's School, Melrose and

Merchiston Castle School Merchiston Castle School is an independent boarding school for boys in the suburb of Colinton in Edinburgh, Scotland. It has around 470 pupils and is open to boys between the ages of 7 and 18 as either boarding or day pupils; it was modelled ...

in Edinburgh. Both schools are noted for producing strong rugby players, and he went on to play scrum-half for the Scottish Schools team. He played for the full Kelso sevens team while still at Merchiston, collecting a Melrose winner's medal at 17.

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 ...

considered him an exceptional sevens player.

Provincial career

Baird also played for the

South of Scotland rugby union team The South of Scotland District is a Scottish amateur rugby union team which plays in the amateur Scottish Inter-District Championship. It draws its players from the South of Scotland, mainly the Scottish Borders where there has always been a p ...

. One odd feature of Baird's playing career was noted by

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 ...

: :"Extraordinarily he has not scored a try for Scotland, though he already holds the record number of tries for the South."

International career

Within two years he was capped by Scotland B winning his first 'B' cap on 1 December 1979 against Ireland 'B'; and he won the first of his full senior caps for

in the 24–15 win over at

Murrayfield Stadium Murrayfield Stadium (known as BT Murrayfield Stadium for sponsorship reasons, or popularly as Murrayfield) is a Rugby stadium located in the Murrayfield area of Edinburgh, Scotland. It has a seating capacity of 67,144 making it the largest sta ...

in 1981, replacing

Bruce Hay Bruce Hamilton Hay (23 May 1950 – 1 October 2007) was a Scotland international rugby union player. Background Hay was born in Edinburgh and educated at Liberton High School. From there he went on to work as an engineer for the National Coal ...

. He won 27

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

in total playing on the

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...

for between 1981 and 1988. A regular fixture on the left

for Scotland, he went on the 1983 British Lions tour to New Zealand, playing in all four Tests, and scoring six tries in 11 appearances. In one of these tries in particularly wet weather, he slammed right into the billboards around the pitch. Baird was very successful at District and Club level, and scored a number of times for the British Lions, including a test try against

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in 1983, but never scored a try while representing Scotland.

Coaching career

He is a former team manager of Scotland U21s and is assistant coach to Kelso clubmate

Gary Callander Gary Callander (5 July 1959 – 5 December 2021) was a Scottish international rugby union player who made six international appearances for the Scotland national team between 1984 and 1988. He played in the Hooker position. He coached Haddin ...

Watsonians Watsonian Football Club is a rugby union club based in Edinburgh and part of the Scottish Rugby Union. The club is connected with George Watson's College as a club for former pupils, and changed its policy in the 1980s to be a fully open club, ...

Business career

Baird is a

grain merchant The grain trade refers to the local and international trade in cereals and other food grains such as wheat, barley, maize, and rice. Grain is an important trade item because it is easily stored and transported with limited spoilage, unlike other ...

Controversies

Roger was invited as a guest speaker at the

Glasgow University RFC Glasgow University Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club at the University of Glasgow in Scotland. The men's side play in the university league; the women's side play in the . History GURFC was formed in 1869 and is one of the university' ...

150th anniversary event held in Glasgow on 16 November 2019 where he made sexist remarks about some of the female rugby team players and racist remarks regarding a previous encounter with a person of Japanese origin. Roger was heckled off the stage and the GURFC has since issued an apology for inviting him to speak, reiterating that they are a club who promotes inclusivity and diversity and that the remarks do not reflect those of the university or the Rugby Society.

References

External links

Roger Baird on Sporting Heroes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baird, Roger 1960 births Living people British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Scotland Kelso RFC players People educated at Merchiston Castle School People educated at St. Mary's School, Melrose Rugby union players from Kelso Rugby union wings Scotland 'B' international rugby union players Scotland international rugby union players Scottish rugby union players South of Scotland District (rugby union) players