Thomas Elliot MBE (6 April 1926 – 3 May 1998) was a

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. His regular playing position was Prop.

Rugby Union career

Amateur career

Elliot was born into a farming family in the Scottish Borders. He was educated at St. Mary's School, Melrose and at

Loretto School Loretto School, founded in 1827, is an independent boarding and day school for boys and girls aged 0 to 18. The campus occupies in Musselburgh, East Lothian, Scotland. History The school was founded by the Reverend Thomas Langhorne in 1827. ...

, Musselburgh. After school he joined Gala RFC and played for the 2XV at lock. He soon moved to loose-head prop and over the next fifteen years made the position his own. Early in his career he gained a reputation for rumbustious play.

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 ...

described him as "a tough rugged son of the soil".

Provincial career

Elliot was capped by South of Scotland District.

International career

Elliot made his debut for Scotland in the

1955 Five Nations Championship The 1955 Five Nations Championship was the twenty-sixth series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the sixty-first series of the northern hemisphere rugby ...

. Scotland beat 14–8 at Murrayfield. His next match against resulted in another victory at the same venue. Elliot also played in a narrow 9–6 defeat to at Twickenham. In the

1956 Five Nations Championship The 1956 Five Nations Championship was the twenty-seventh series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the sixty-second series of the northern hemisphere ru ...

he played all four matches. Scotland won one match against France at Murrayfield. The following year Scotland won two matches in the

1957 Five Nations Championship The 1957 Five Nations Championship was the twenty-eighth series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the sixty-third series of the northern hemisphere ru ...

; Elliot played in every match. He played two matches in the 1958 Five Nations Championship, losing to Wales and Ireland. In between he played in a 12–8 victory over at Murrayfield on their

1957–58 Australia rugby union tour of Britain, Ireland and France Between late 1957 and March 1958 the Australia national rugby union team – the Wallabies – conducted a world tour encompassing Britain, Ireland, France and Canada on which they played five Tests and thirty-one minor tour matches. The Wallabi ...

. Elliot was selected for the

1955 British Lions tour to South Africa In 1955 the British Lions rugby union team toured Southern and Eastern Africa. The Lions drew the test series against , each team winning two of the four matches. They won the first test by a single point and the third by three points and lost ...

, alongside his compatriot and fellow prop Hugh McLeod. If it were not for the outstanding Meredith brothers from Wales, they would have played in the Test matches. As it was Elliot played eight of the midweek games. He also played for the

Barbarian F.C. The Barbarian Football Club, known as the Barbarians is a British-based invitational rugby union club. The Barbarians play in black and white hoops, though players wear socks from their own club strip. Membership is by invitation. As of 2011, p ...

Farming career

Elliot had farming interests in the Borders and Sutherland. He was a former president of the Selkirk branch of the

National Farmers Union of Scotland The National Farmers' Union of Scotland is an organisation that promotes and protects the interests of the country's farming industry. It was formed in 1913, and has approximately 10,000 members who are farmers, crofters and others involved in Sc ...

, and former president of the Borders area. His animals often won championships at the

Royal Highland Show The Royal Highland Show is Scotland's biggest annual Agricultural show. The show is organised by the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland. Held annually in June at the Royal Highland Centre in Ingliston, the event attracts ove ...

near Edinburgh, of which he became a director. Elliot was also a past president of the Cheviot Sheep Society, member of the government's Hill Farming Advisory Committee and a director of the Moredun Foundation. For his contributions to farming he was awarded an MBE in 1989.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elliot, Tom 1926 births 1998 deaths People educated at St. Mary's School, Melrose People educated at Loretto School, Musselburgh Scottish rugby union players Scotland international rugby union players British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Scotland Gala RFC players Barbarian F.C. players Members of the Order of the British Empire South of Scotland District (rugby union) players Rugby union players from Galashiels Rugby union props