How 'force of energy & positivity' Hastings left indelible mark on rugby

Image source, SNSImage caption, Scotland rugby great Scott Hastings died on Sunday BBC Scotland's chief sports writerPublished30 minutes agoThe rain was belting down in Invercargill, the southernmost spot in New Zealand, a place founded by a Scottish settler in the 1850s and nicknamed the city of water and light. Whatever about the light, they got the water bit right. It was September 2011 and the Rugby World Cup was on. When Mick Jagger toured here with the Rolling Stones in 1965 he infamously called it the "arsehole of the world" but Scott Hastings begged to differ. In two days' time, Scotland were playing Georgia and Hastings was in town as a television summariser, one of the things he turned to, including business, when his playing days ended. The city was quiet, but scampering down Esk Street in the torrential rain of early evening a racket could be heard in the distance. Looking in the window of a pub it seemed like half the population was in there. One person was on a chair holding court, leading the sing-song, conducting the crowd, loving life. Scott Hastings was doing The Proclaimers. It was only polite to go in and take a look. "What a place this is!" he gushed, of Invercargill, excitement bursting out of him like he was in some rooftop bar in downtown Tokyo or a speakeasy in the East Village in New York. As a moment captured in time, that was him, adapting to circumstances, no matter what they were. He was a force of energy and positivity, in his rugby career and after his rugby career, in happy family times and in days that were profoundly sad, in his work and his charity work. Scotland rugby great Scott Hastings dies at 61 Published4 hours ago'I go back to the bay where my wife died every week' Published15 September 2025Ex-rugby player completes record canal swim for teammate's late wife Published25 September 2025Strong man on the field & even stronger off itHastings always had a smile on his face. He was a charity campaigner, a great friend and champion of Doddie Weir in life and in death. He was heavily involved in raising awareness and funds for research into motor neurone disease, the condition that took the big man in 2022. Hastings had his own challenges at that time. He had been fighting non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a cancer that affects that white blood cells that help you fight infection. He spoke about it with humour and with a fierce determination to beat it. The extraordinary thing was there were other awful things he had to contend with, the suffering of his beloved wife, Jenny, in particular. Jenny had been living with depression for two decades before taking her own life in the autumn of 2024. He spoke with immense power of his life with her, their fantastic ups of having children and travelling the world through rugby and then the pain of her illness. Depression would take hold of her for months at a time. Meeting him at rugby games you wouldn't have known such darkness existed in his world because that's not how he saw it. He was upbeat, he was meeting his wife's circumstances head-on. After going for a swim in Wardie Bay in Edinburgh, Jenny, who was 60, disappeared in the water. Hastings spoke numerous times about how he would return to swim in the bay where she lost her life, how it brought him comfort, how it was a place of healing. Strong man on the field and an even stronger man off it. When the news came through on Sunday that he was longer with us, gone at 61, it was hard to take in. He did media during the most recent Six Nations. He was utterly in thrall to rugby and massively supportive of Gregor Townsend and his players. To those on the periphery of his world the announcement of his passing was an almighty shock. Cancer had claimed him. Figure caption, 'A man of huge integrity' - Moore's tribute to Hastings Hastings had been a wonderful rugby player, a powerhouse, a centre with strength and ferocious will. He made his debut for Scotland in 1986 alongside his older brother, Gavin. He won 65 caps in 11 years. For a period he was the most capped Scottish player of all time, something he may have reminded his sibling of on occasion. Gavin was the celebrated goalkicker and captain, the leader of the British and Irish Lions in 1993 and a player of world stature. Scott may not have resonated with foreign audiences in the same way but everybody knew his vast importance to Scotland in a golden era. In 1989 he became not just a Lion in Australia but a Test Lion, a key cog in Ian McGeechan's side as they came from 1-0 down in the series to win 2-1. The Wallabies were an incredible unit back then. The Lions had to fight the infamous Battle of Ballymore on their way to glory. Hastings used to revel in retelling the story of the melees that broke out that day. He had a perfect ringside seat, he said. Far removed from the violence, which wasn't for pretty boys like him. He had a wonderful self-deprecating humour but when game-day came he was like a man possessed

How 'force of energy & positivity' Hastings left indelible mark on rugby

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