Andrew Robertson Irvine (born 16 September 1951) is a former president of 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 ...

(SRU), and a former Scottish international rugby player.Bath, p141 He earned fifty one Scotland caps, captaining the team on fifteen occasions, and scored 250 points for .Massie, p142 He went on three British Lions tours.

Background

Irvine was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

, on 16 September 1951. He was educated at James Gillespie's Primary School and

George Heriot's School George Heriot's School is a Scottish independent primary and secondary day school on Lauriston Place in the Old Town of Edinburgh, Scotland. In the early 21st century, it has more than 1600 pupils, 155 teaching staff, and 80 non-teaching staff. ...

. From there he went on to

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted ...

where he graduated in Geography.

Rugby Union career

Amateur career

Irvine originally played for

Heriot's Rugby Club Heriot's Rugby Club, also known as Heriot's FP, is one of Scotland's senior rugby football clubs in the Scottish Rugby Union, whose Men's 1st XV play in the FOSROC . The women play in The club's home is in the Goldenacre area in Edinburgh.Bath ...

Provincial career

Irvine represented Edinburgh District in the

Scottish Inter-District Championship The Scottish Inter-District Championship is a rugby union competition between regional sides in Scotland. Established in 1953, the tournament went through several formats. The Scottish Rugby Union confirmed in January 2023 that the Scottish In ...

International career

As fullback for , Irvine won 51 caps, between 1972–82 and scored ten tries. His first cap was against the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...

in December 1972. His last international appearance was against on 10 July 1982. Irvine earned British Lions caps against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

(1974),

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 ...

(1977) and

(1980). He scored 156 points in fifteen games on the 1974 Lion tour. He also played for the Barbarians during their 1976 Easter Tour. In the 1974 tour, he adopted many South African tactics and styles of play, although

JPR Williams John Peter Rhys Williams (born 2 March 1949) is a former Welsh rugby union player who represented Wales in international rugby during their Golden Era in the 1970s. He became known universally as J. P. R. Williams (or sometimes just as JPR) aft ...

was preferred as full back for the tests, limiting Irvine to two test appearances on the wing. Irvine vies with Ken Scotland,

Gavin Hastings Andrew Gavin Hastings, (born 3 January 1962) is a Scottish former rugby union player. A fullback, he is widely regarded to be one of the best ever Scottish rugby players and was one of the outstanding players of his generation, winning 61 ...

and Stuart Hogg for the title of Scotland's greatest ever fullback, with incisive running at a blistering pace from the back his trademark. A number of polls have voted Irvine Scotland's greatest player, and he is generally considered one of the best, if not the best, attacking full backs of his era.International Rugby Hall of Fame Andy Irvine
His presence in the line often distracted defenders even when he did not have possession.

Administrative career

In May 2005, Irvine announced his intention to stand for president of the

. He was elected. He announced his readiness to stand for a second term at the end of March 2006. and was unopposed. He stepped down from the role in June 2007, having served the maximum of two years in the post. In August 2010 Irvine was appointed as the first independent chairman of Celtic Rugby. In March 2010 the Bill McLaren Foundation launched, with Irvine and John Rutherford directors. Irvine was the tour manager of the

2013 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia The 2013 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia was a rugby union tour during June and July 2013. The British & Irish Lions played ten matches - a three-test series against Australia, and matches against the five Australian Super Rugby sides, a ...

. It was the first successful Lions' tour since 1997, with the Lions winning the series 2-1.

Property career

After graduation Irvine followed a career in chartered surveying. In 2004, after 26 years at the property consultancy firm

Jones Lang LaSalle Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated (JLL) is a global commercial real estate services company, founded in the United Kingdom with offices in 80 countries. The company also provides investment management services worldwide, including services to insti ...

, eight of them as managing director, he was appointed as chairman.

Other activities

Irvine has appeared as a guest on

BBC Radio Scotland BBC Radio Scotland is a Scotland, Scottish radio station, radio network owned and operated by BBC Scotland, a division of the BBC. It broadcasts a wide variety of programmes. It replaced the Scottish BBC Radio 4 opt-out service of the same na ...

's '' Sportsound'' radio programme to comment on international rugby games. He has also coached rugby at

Awards and honours

Irvine was made a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1979 Birthday Honours for services to Rugby Football in Scotland. In 2002 Irvine was inducted into the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame. He is an inductee of the

International Rugby Hall of Fame The International Rugby Hall of Fame (IRHOF) was a hall of fame for rugby union. It was created in 1997 in New Zealand and is run as a charitable trust with an address at Chiswick in London. Most of the trustees are also inductees. IRHOF acc ...

References

;Sources # Bath, Richard (ed.) ''The Complete Book of Rugby'' (Seven Oaks Ltd, 1997 ) # Massie, Allan ''A Portrait of Scottish Rugby'' (Polygon, Edinburgh; )