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. The greatest moment of his illustrious career was on 17 March 1990, when he was part of McGeechan’s and Jim Telfer’s Grand Slam-winning team against England at Murrayfield. It remains the last Scottish Grand Slam.
Hastings, and others involved in that momentous afternoon, have recalled what he was like and the picture was, at times, hilarious.
“I was in a trance,” he said of the hours leading up to the great decider and, still, the biggest day in Scottish rugby, 36 years on.
“I relied on passion. I cried all the way to the ground. I cried in the dressing room beforehand, I cried on the way out to the pitch.”
That was the famous Slow Walk, led by captain David Sole, a piece of theatre in which the Scots didn’t sprint like demons into the fray but walked single-file like soldiers going to war.
They’d worked it all out. Sole would be first as leader and then the rest would fall in behind in numerical order. Kenny Milne, wearing number two, would be behind Sole. Paul Burnell, wearing number three, would be behind Milne and so on down the line to the last man, Gavin Hastings, with the 15 on his back.
“Scott jumped the queue and went in third,” said Chris Gray, the big Scottish lock. “I was saying, ‘Scott, get back’. He ignored me. ‘Scott, you’re 13th in line’. No response.
“I looked at him – and he was gone. He was in another world. We were lining up in the corridor, ready to walk, but there was a delay. I was thinking, ‘If Scott doesn’t get on the move soon he’s going to blow a gasket’. He was like a horse down at the starting stalls. He had to be let loose.'”
Hastings laughed heartily when those words were read to him years back. He loved the depiction and agreed with it completely. Some of the English team spoke of Hastings’ mad focus and he loved that, too.
