Alex Hastie

For the Lord Provost of Glasgow, see Alexander Hastie (Lord Provost).

Alex Hastie

Birth name	Alexander James Hastie
Date of birth	(1935-07-29)29 July 1935
Place of birth	Hawick, Scotland
Date of death	7 June 2010(2010-06-07) (aged 74)
Place of death	Melrose, Scotland
Rugby union career
Position(s) Scrum half Amateur team(s) Years Team Apps (Points) 1954- Melrose () Provincial / State sides Years Team Apps (Points) 1962 South of Scotland District () 1962 Provinces District () 1962-63 Whites Trial () International career Years Team Apps (Points) 1961-68 Scotland 18 (0) Coaching career Years Team Melrose Colts

Alexander James Hastie (29 July 1935 – 7 June 2010), also known as Alex Hastie or Eck Hastie was a Scotland international rugby union player. He played at Scrum-half; and was commonly linked with David Chisholm, his pairing at Fly-half for club and country.

Rugby Union career

Amateur career

Hastie played for Melrose. He first played for the side in 1954 when 17 years old.

He was club captain when Melrose won the Scottish Unofficial Championship in 1962-63 season; and the Border League in that same year.

Of his pairing with David Chisholm, Allan Massie said:

"They played together for Melrose for eleven seasons, in the course of which Chisholm scored more than a thousand points for the club... As a pair their understanding made them more than the sum of two individuals. Did Hastie ever lose Chisholm in any of the thirteen internationals they played together? It was their joint ability to tidy up bad ball and even turn it to advantage that made them the most secure of partnerships. Both tackled better than many wing forwards, and they would have revelled in the modern game... Their record of going ten internationals without defeat is unparalleled."

Neither of them made it onto the British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand. Hastie was said to have a particularly "effective hand-off".

Bill McLaren thought that:

"Hastie was one of that Border breed of durable scrum-halves, all 'shilpit' little chaps, seemingly in need of a good meal and all of whom, through operating behind lightweight packs always struggling for ball, had to live on their wits and raw courage."

Provincial career

He played for South of Scotland District.

He was part of the North-South Provinces District side that beat Canada in 1962.

He played for the Whites Trial side in their matches against the Blues Trial to determine international selection. He turned out for Whites in their 2nd trial match in 1962-63 season.

International career

He played for Scotland from 1961 to 1968.

Coaching career

He coached the Melrose Colts, the youth team of Melrose.

References

Sources

1. Bath, Richard (ed.) The Scotland Rugby Miscellany (Vision Sports Publishing Ltd, 2007 ISBN 1-905326-24-6)
2. McLaren, Bill Talking of Rugby (1991, Stanley Paul, London ISBN 0-09-173875-X)
3. Massie, Allan A Portrait of Scottish Rugby (Polygon, Edinburgh; ISBN 0-904919-84-6)