My book ,or memoir, is mainly a very light hearted
look at my rugby union experiences both on and off the
field. My stories began in 1958 when I was 10 and a
pupil at George Heriot's school in Edinburgh. As I
started to recount my early experiences in rugby union
lots of other general boyhood , adolescent and later
more adult moments came to mind. Some stories have
nothing to do with rugby but I thought they might bring
a smile to the faces of some people as they may see
themselves in similar circumstances. My Rugby stories
include my times at Heriot's School , Heriot's Former
Pupils Rugby Club, Nottinghamians RFC, Aberdeenshire RFC
and Mackie Academy FPRFC in Stonehaven. I was president
of Mackie Academy FPRFC twice and in that period I met
many famous International players from all of the then
Five Nations as they kindly agreed to speak at the club
dinners. They include Scottish stars Andy Irvine, Jim
Telfer, Jim Aitken, Iain Milne and his brothers Kenny
and David. Fran Cotton of England and Gareth Edwards of
Wales also graced the Mackie dinners. Jo Maso the famous
French Centre also features in the book as I recount an
amazing story involving him and Mackie Academy FP's . I
was employed as Secretary and General Manager of
Heriot's Rugby Club from 1998 to 2004 and in that time I
had the privilege of meeting players from all over the
world as they trained with their International
colleagues at Heriot's school playing fields,
Goldenacre. Towards the end of my tenure at Heriot's I
was close to much of the turmoil that beset the Scottish
Rugby Union and Scottish club rugby. Heriot's were
largely responsible for halting a likely meltdown of the
Scottish Rugby Union in 2004/2005 and I tell that story
at the end of my book. Rugby kicks of the book and
closes it too so I have called my memoir Wrapped in
Rugby.
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