Hugh McLeod (rugby union)


Hugh Ferns McLeod OBE was a Scottish rugby union player, who played forty times for Scotland between 1954 and 1962. He played 14 times for the Barbarians between 1954 and 1959, scoring only once, a try in their 1958 match against East Africa in Nairobi on 28 May 1958. His home team was Hawick RFC. giving rise to his nickname, the Hawick Hardman. Allan Massie describes him as "Hawick through and through, and is indeed now President of the Club".

International career

Hugh McLeod propped alongside Tom Elliot of Gala RFC and David Rollo of Howe of Fife RFC. He was only twenty one when he first played for Scotland, a young age at the time, and retired from international rugby at thirty. He was made pack leader for a while, and the story goes that some of the posher, or anglified players could not actually understand his accent; one of his semi-humorous phrases as pack leader was "Come here, my wee disciples."
In 1955 he took part in the British Lions tour of South Africa and afterwards published his diary of the tour. In 1959 he played on the 1959 British Lions tour to Australia and New Zealand.
Richard Bath writes of McLeod that he
Allan Massie is equally flattering:
He was a personal friend of Bill McLaren, also from Hawick, who describes him as "A man for whom I always have had the highest respect and admiration."
One of the Anglo-Scots is supposed to have said, "Well, I didn't understand a word of that but it all sounded damned impressive.".
Another famous story involving McLeod, and the lock Frans ten Bos and is told by Bill McLaren. On the evening before the 1963 game between and at Colombes in Paris, Hugh McLeod and Bill McLaren were out having a meal together and bumped into ten Bos near a cafe. Hugh McLeod took Ten Bos aside, and told him bluntly:
Ten Bos tapped McLaren on the shoulder as they left the cafe, and said, "You know, I'd follow him anywhere."
Scotland later won the game 11-6, rare for an away game.
McLeod retired after forty caps, "because forty is a nice roond figure." McLeod's hobby in later life has been dog shows mainly using his bulldog Spike. He died at the age of 81 on 12 May 2014.