Andrew Douglas Nicol (born 12 March 1971), is a former

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. A scrum-half, Nicol won 23

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 ...

for

and had brief spells as a replacement on two

British & 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 ...

tours.

Rugby Union career

Amateur career

Nicol was born on 12 March 1971 in Dundee and educated at the

High School of Dundee The High School of Dundee is an independent, co-educational, day school in Dundee, Scotland, which provides nursery, primary and secondary education to just over one thousand pupils. Its foundation has been dated to 1239, and it is the only priv ...

and Dundee Institute of Technology (now

Abertay University , mottoeng = "Blessed is the one who finds wisdom." , established = 1994 – granted University Status 1888 – Dundee Institute of Technology , type = Public , chancellor = Alice Brown , principal = Liz Bacon , head_label = Chair of C ...

). He played for Dundee HSFP.

Provincial and professional career

In the amateur era Nicol played for

North and Midlands North and Midlands - and now known as Caledonia - is a select provincial amateur rugby union team that draws its players mainly from north of Scotland, roughly corresponding from around Stirling northwards. Historically the North and Midlands te ...

. When the game turned professional Nicol played for Bath. As captain of Bath, he was the first British player to lift the Heineken Cup, when they defeated Brive in 1998. In 1999 Nicol moved from Bath to Glasgow Warriors. He made his competitive debut for the Glasgow provincial side on 3 September 1999, playing an away match against

Pontypridd () ( colloquially: Ponty) is a town and a community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Geography comprises the electoral wards of , Hawthorn, Pontypridd Town, 'Rhondda', Rhydyfelin Central/Ilan ( Rhydfelen), Trallwng ( Trallwn) and Treforest (). ...

in the Welsh-Scottish League. He became Glasgow Warrior No. 65. Nicol retired at the end of the 2002–03 season,

International career

Nicol played for Scotland 'B' against France 'B' on 02 March 1991; he played for the 'B' side again against Ireland 'B' on 28 December 1991. Nicol made his debut for Scotland in 1992 against England. Over 10 years he won 23 caps for Scotland, a period when he faced strong competition for selection from scrum halves Gary Armstrong and Bryan Redpath. He never played in a World Cup, not being selected in 1991 and 1999, and being injured in 1995. Nicol captained Scotland in 2000 when Scotland beat

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

19–13 at a rain-soaked

Murrayfield Murrayfield is an affluent area to the west of Edinburgh city centre in Scotland. It is to the east of Corstorphine and north of Balgreen and Roseburn. The A8 road runs east–west through the south of the area. Murrayfield is often con ...

and so prevented England from achieving the

Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

. Nicol was a replacement on the

1993 British Lions tour to New Zealand In 1993 the British Lions rugby union team toured New Zealand. This was the last Lions tour in the sport's amateur era. The Lions were managed by Geoff Cooke, coached by Ian McGeechan and Dick Best, and captained by Gavin Hastings. The Lions ...

, when he appeared in one game, playing six minutes. He was also called up as a late replacement for the Lions on their 2001 tour, replacing Austin Healey, whilst on holiday in Australia. In total he spent seven days with the Lions across two tours.

Coaching career

Nicol managed a Scottish-based sevens team, Bone Steelers, at the Dubai 7s from 2004 until 2006 and again in 2009.

Other interests

On 16 February 2007, Nicol was defeated in the Rectorial election at the

University of Dundee , mottoeng = "My soul doth magnify the Lord" , established = 1967 – gained independent university status by Royal Charter1897 – Constituent college of the University of St Andrews1881 – University College , ...

. Former British Ambassador

Craig Murray Craig John Murray (born 17 October 1958) is a Scottish author, human rights campaigner, journalist, and former diplomat for the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Between 2002 and 2004, he was the British ambassador to Uzbekistan during ...

was duly elected Lord Rector with 632 votes to Nicol's 582. He was awarded an honorary degree by Abertay University in 2013. Nicol is a commentator for BBC Sport.

References

External links

Sporting Heroes Profile

on ESPN Scrum
Lions profile
1971 births Living people People educated at the High School of Dundee Alumni of Abertay University Scottish rugby union players British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Scotland Rugby union scrum-halves Glasgow Warriors players Bath Rugby players Scottish rugby union coaches Scotland international rugby union players Dundee HSFP players Scotland international rugby sevens players Male rugby sevens players Rugby union players from Dundee {{Scotland-rugbyunion-bio-stub