Ken Scotland
| Full name | Kenneth James Forbes Scotland | ||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 29 August 1936 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Warriston, Edinburgh, Scotland | ||||||||||||||||
| University | Cambridge University | ||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||
| Playing career | |||||||||||||||||
| Position | Fullback | ||||||||||||||||
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| Amateur clubs | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Years | Club / team | Apps | |
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1961-62 |
Cambridge University RFC Aberdeenshire RFC Leicester |
40 |
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| Provincial/State sides | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Years | Club / team | Apps | (points) |
| North and Midlands | |||
| National team(s) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Years | Club / team | Apps | (points) |
| 1957-1965 1959 |
 ScotlandLions |
27 5 |
(79) (8) |
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Correct as of 26 August 2009
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Kenneth "Ken" James Forbes Scotland (born 29 August 1936) is a Scottish former rugby union player. He played for Scotland 27 times between 1957 and 1965, and 5 times for the British Lions on their 1959 tour of New Zealand; he was a full-back. He played his club rugby for Leicester Tigers, London Scottish FC, Heriot's FP and Ballymena. He also played for the Scottish national cricket team.
Scotland was originally picked for the match against France, while doing his National Service in the Army, and scored the only points in the match, a drop goal and a penalty.
Richard Bath writes of him that:
"Like Gavin Hastings against France nearly three decades later, Ken Scotland started his international career on a high note, scoring all six points in his country's win over France. Yet although Scotland made a huge impact when he won his first cap aged 19, it could all have been so different. Until circumstances caused his selection at full-back at for the Scottish Trial earlier that year, Scotland had always played fly-half. That experience of playing fly-half added another dimension to his game, and he soon emerged as the first true attacking full-back in an age where a safety-first attitude and a large boot were the most important attributes for any No. 15... Novel at the time, it is now the staple diet of attacking full-backs the world over."
However, after his first international season he ran into trouble, when he had a trial for Cambridge University, and it is claimed he lost his form all that autumn, and was only third choice for the University. An injury to Robin Chisholm brought him back onto the Scotland team, and played for another five seasons without discussion.Gordon Waddell was one of his more famous team mates at Cambridge.
Scotland's goal kicking style was highly influential:
"As a goal kicker he popularized the instep style, then deplored by most coaches, now adopted by most kickers... His record as a goal-kicker hardly compares with Andy Irvine, but then the modern ball flies further and truer."
...
Wikipedia