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Stallions XV
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15 Bruce Hay. Easiest selection in the team although Steve Douglas, who followed Bruce into the team, was a player very much in the same mould - great under the high ball and a really solid tackler. But Bruce was special - totally reliable and as hard as f***. Honourable mention to Ross Cook who was a talented and exciting player who played professionally and could have gone further in the game. 14. Mike de Busk. Pretty lethal finisher although not the fastest wing in the game, he read it well and was very hard to stop. Strong defensively too. I played with Colin MacCartney and Derek McLaughlin who were both very good but Mike just shades it. And he was a great flatmate and brings some much needed good looks to the team to offset Stuart Reid and Bruce. 13. Malcolm Clapperton. Class act who could and should have played at a higher level. Ran great lines, had pace, great hands and sound defence. Brian Edwards was the other obvious choice and was an underrated player but Clappy playing outside Sean would have been mouth-watering. 12. Sean Lineen. Just a classy player. Not lightning quick and no great side step but he read the game better than anyone I played with and ran amazing lines. Elgan O’Donnell was the only other contender he was different class. 11. Rory Couper. Another guy who could have played at a higher level - there were guys playing pro rugby when Rory was at the club who couldn’t lace his boots. Also a great club man. Honourable mentions to Charlie Keenan and Robbie Smith. 10. Ally Black. Very talented player and on his day, unplayable. Great step and read the game really well. Murry Walker was excellent when at the top of his game too. 9. Mike Blair. Really tough one when you look at some of the 9s at the club when I was involved. But seeing Mike’s performance at the Melrose 7s reminded me what a great player he was. Just ahead of Chris Cusiter by a nose and Mike Hall and Calum Cusiter were really really good too. 1. Dave Cockburn. Played at a high level for centuries and was a strong player with a lot of rugby ability. Great for post-match too. Him and Rory would keep the party rolling. Bill Noble was apparently very good too but just before my time. Murray Driver was excellent too. 2. Barrie Brown. The best hooker I played with, including Kenny Milne and John Allan. Could hook cleanly no matter how low the scrum went and his throwing was faultless. Great athlete too. Phil Black was in the running as was Dave Cunningham but Barrie’s technical skill just shaded it for me. 3. Norrie Rowan. Norrie was immensely strong and technically a great scrummager. Just got the nod ahead of Peter Wright. 4. Darren George. Some of you will be asking “who?” Darren came and played for a season in 1995 from NZ and was outstanding- better than Chris Tregaskis and Mark Hooper who also played at the club and went on to play for the All Blacks but only my opinion, Darren was better than them both. Played for years at Stade Francais - really good player. 5. Brian Richardson. Captained us to the title in ‘91 and led from the front. Hard, uncompromising and very good in the tight. I played against him for the British Police when he was playing for the Combined Services. Our second row was Martin Bayfield and Paul Ackford with Wade Dooley at 8 and Brian won every one of his own balls and a few of ours. Very underrated. 6. Graham Drummond. Legend. Hardest player I ever played with and a very good player. Fast, fearsome tackler and a total pest all over the field. 7. Angus Martyn. The outstanding club player in Scotland when I was managing. Never stopped and like Hamish Waston; almost impossible to stop. I’d play him and Drum left and right as opposed to open and blind and watch them destroy opposition midfields. Look at who I’ve had to omit - Henry Edwards, Kenny Wilson, Ronnie Kirkpatrick, Bill Watson, Donald Flockhart...... Angus and Drum were very special. 8. Stuart Reid. Another very hard and very good player. Read it well, extremely fit and ran and tackled all day. Ben Fisher pushed him close as did George Watson but I’d just give Reidy the call. Also captains the team, which would be entertaining, given Bruce is in the team.....
