Obituary: Frank Laidlaw

Laidlaw won 32 caps for Scotland between 1965 and 1971 and toured with the Lions to Australia, New Zealand and Canada in 1966 and the successful New Zealand sojourn in 1971.

In total, he played in 28 games for the Lions, which included two Test matches in 1966: the second and third Tests against New Zealand in Wellington and Christchurch, respectively.

During his tenure in the Scotland team, Laidlaw, Scotland cap number 727, only missed one international – the England game in 1968 – and from his international baptism against France in 1965, he was lauded both for his supreme technical skills in the scrum and for his ability in open play.

Christened Francis Andrew Linden Laidlaw, he was born in Hawick on 20 September 1940 and educated at Melrose Grammar School.

He made his debut for Melrose as an 18-year-against Edinburgh City Police in the 1958-59 season and went on to play for the club’s first XV in some 238 games.

He became a joiner on leaving school before a long career as a salesperson in agricultural nutrients.

In 1962-63, Melrose won both the unofficial Scottish club championship and the Border League, but it was another two years before he made his breakthrough into international honours, following in the footsteps of another formidable Borders hooker, Norman Bruce.

In addition to his reliable and robust reputation carved with Melrose, the South and Scotland, Laidlaw also made ten appearances for the Barbarians, including on a tour to South Africa in 1969, during which he scored a try in a 32-22 victory over a South African Country XV.

Laidlaw succeeded his Melrose club-mate Jim Telfer as Scotland captain for the final game of the 1970 Five Nations Championship, the Calcutta Cup clash against England at Murrayfield.

Scotland went into the game on the back of three losses in that campaign and had not won the Calcutta Cup since 1966.

But with Laidlaw giving a stirring lead, including three tighthead strikes, when that art of the hooker’s repertoire was very much in vogue, the Scotland pack dominated.

Pictured: The Scotland team that faced France in 1965 in Paris, with Frank Laidlaw bottom right.

Writing in the then Glasgow Herald,  the late Bill McMurtrie noted: “Laidlaw – carried off at the end shoulder-high by two fellow Borderers, Arneil and Elliot (as he was mobbed by ecstatic home supporters) – led Scotland for the first time as much by the example of his maul clearing and general tidying up, particularly from lineout deflections.”

Scotland won the match 14-5 and Laidlaw retained the captaincy for a fund-raising match for the Edinburgh Commonwealth Games against the Barbarians and then for a six-match tour of Australia, which included one Test, a loss, in Sydney.

In his final season of international duty – which culminated in the Lions tour of New Zealand – Laidlaw played for a combined Scotland/Ireland team in the RFU’s Centenary match at Twickenham and also for an RFU President’s XV against a Welsh XV at Cardiff.

At the conclusion of his playing career, Laidlaw continued to serve the game with a nine-year stint on the Melrose committee, in addition to coaching duties with both under-18 and senior XVs.

Scottish Rugby is flying the flag at Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium at half-mast to honour Frank Laidlaw and all he did for the game.

We send our sincere condolences to all his family and many friends.

On Friday 11 April at 2.45pm, all are welcome to pay their respects as Frank Laidlaw’s funeral cortege passes The Greenyards in Melrose en route to a private service at Borders Crematorium.