John Beattie (archive)
- John Beattie
- 12 Mar 07, 05:39 PM
Glasgow - Friends of mine know that I don鈥檛 like to beat about the bush. So, here goes...why did Ireland coach Eddie O鈥橲ullivan accuse a Scottish player of And this leads to another question: What is an acceptable level of violence on a rugby pitch?
I have been quiet on the blog over the last two weeks because was hard to take. There has been much gnashing of teeth in this country, and even people with no teeth have been provided with them so that they can join in. But I left Murrayfield at the weekend with a feeling that Scotland had played much better and that they should have which turned out to be not quite as good as the hype.
Continue reading "What is acceptable violence?"
- John Beattie
- 23 Feb 07, 01:18 PM
Glasgow - The Scottish papers today had an amazing story. .
One of our country鈥檚 most potent attacking weapons and a man with the best rugby years ahead of him was actually going to play across the Irish Sea.
What do you think about this?
There were rumours flying around that , the papers had already carried stories of two more Edinburgh players leaving, as well as .
Continue reading "Is the Scottish exodus a worry?"
- John Beattie
- 20 Feb 07, 09:51 AM
I wonder who has a harder job, a football manager or a rugby manager? In fact, let鈥檚 get down to it, which is the better game, soccer-type football or rugby football? I think rugby is.
It was arranged for Scottish rugby boss and football counterpart to have lunch the other day, in a rather nice little bistro on .
Rather than sit with them, Andy Gillies (Five Live鈥檚 supremo north of the border) and I thought it would be a good idea if we just left them to have lunch together and then interviewed them afterwards.
And it was interesting - you can listen to it here
Continue reading "Does McLeish or Hadden have the harder job?"
- John Beattie
- 13 Feb 07, 05:46 PM
Here's another photo from the bash we held at the Jam House in Edinburgh after Scotland beat Wales.
Scotland scrum-half is on guitar in the foreground rocking the house down.
- John Beattie
- 12 Feb 07, 11:50 AM
I seek knowledge. Could someone please explain to me the concept of home advantage? Eh? What is it all about?
Why do teams playing on a piece of turf that is 100m by 70m and largely identical to any other such piece of turf .
Hoarse, tired, happy. That鈥檚 how it feels after you鈥檝e won, and all I was doing was a commentary!
Having been at Murrayfield on Saturday and marvelled at how a Scottish rugby team with such a paucity of comparative resources can beat a Welsh team, life is a bit sweeter.
Continue reading "Why does home advantage make a difference?"
- John Beattie
- 9 Feb 07, 12:22 PM
Glasgow - Who is the best Scottish player of all time, and who is the best Welsh player of all time? What the heck, who is your favourite player of all time?
Here I am, dribbling, looking ahead to the Scotland Wales game. ESPN the other night had a Wales/Scotland game on from the nineteen seventies, and it was brilliant.
I love these games and they remind me firstly of sitting with two rolls with ham and mustard, a tomato, and a glass of milk, and Andy Irvine taking penalty kicks with me, my brothers and my Dad running to the hall unable to watch and my mum left in the front room.
Also they remind me of great days on the old Murrayfield terraces, or of actually being on the pitch itself.
Continue reading "Pick your favourites"
- John Beattie
- 6 Feb 07, 12:57 PM
Handling in rucks, it is starting to get to me.
Now, I am a big fan of Irish rugby as I think their efficiency in keeping hold of the ball looks to be the best in the Six Nations.
But exactly how much handling in a ruck are we going to allow for goodness sake, and isn鈥檛 too much of it going to spoil the game?
Referees have to be far stricter, don鈥檛 you think? Aren't killers of the ball murderers of the game?
Continue reading "Refs must punish handling in the rucks"
- John Beattie
- 1 Feb 07, 08:30 AM
Glasgow - English players playing as if holding a grudge? I couldn鈥檛 believe my flaming ears.
At the end of my road lives on old woman with one leg, bad breath, and a dead dog from whose eye drips lots and lots of yellow-matter custard. The trouble is, she can see into the future and I think I saw Martin O鈥橬eill leaving her house just the other day.
She told me what鈥檚 going to happen on Saturday, and I wonder if you agree. This, after I had poured her a whopping great big whisky, is what she said, and I will need to rush as she is banging at my door demanding payment...
Continue reading "An unhappy medium!"
- John Beattie
- 30 Jan 07, 10:34 AM
Glasgow - Proof this morning of global warming because I woke up and still had the hots for my wife.
But as I creaked out of bed, gingerly, for I am approaching a major birthday this year, I pondered on whether I had played rugby too long.
And that's the topic today, who's the oldest rugby player you've met or played with or against? Just for fun let us celebrate the older player. How long can you keep playing rugby?
I played until I was 29. The ball sailed my way at the start of the second half at Twickenham and I ran at the nearest English player. He tackled me low, very low, and, bang, the right knee gave way. I should never have caught that flaming ball. Gary Pearce, I shall visit you one day...
Continue reading "The generation game"
- John Beattie
- 26 Jan 07, 06:00 PM
Glasgow - Are rugby fans more aggressive toward each other now? Especially this silly nonsense between small-minded Scots and equally small-minded English fans?
Do I sense that in some of the postings here, and do I see it and hear it at weekends?
Do we really dislike each other because someone, a long time ago, drew a line in the ground, called it a border, and persuaded us all that those across it were different?
When I was a kid I went to Murrayfield to watch the internationals. I think I can say, hand on heart, that I looked forward to the (then) Five Nations like an excited child anticipating a first bike for Christmas.
Continue reading "Do we need nationalistic rivalry?"
- John Beattie
- 25 Jan 07, 10:38 AM
Glasgow - I got into the today on a bright, crisp morning and thought: 鈥淲hat a flaming lovely day. It feels good to be alive.鈥
This was just before I started chittering and grabbed a cd cover to scrape the ice off the front windscreen. Inside the car the temperature gauge registered -3 degrees. Minus three! Is this really rugby-playing weather?
Now, I write this because I coach up here North of Hadrian鈥檚 Wall, and we shall be training tonight on a surface that will, at best, be described as 鈥渃rispy鈥.
Continue reading "Should rugby be played in the summer?"
- John Beattie
- 24 Jan 07, 12:59 PM
Glasgow - Today is one of those days. Busy. Still no word from Charlotte, maybe I should speak to . Can one speak to Gavin Henson?
Is it possible to pick up a phone, call the Ospreys, and say: 鈥淐an I speak to Gavin Henson please?鈥
Anyway, I was just along the corridor at the high tech bit of the 成人快手 here in Scotland where they edit fancy bits and pieces together.
Pete, Chris, Katie ( all three locked away in a high static hotbed of multi million pound technology) and I got into a conversation about the size of rugby players as Pete had been at the filming the 鈥減ortraits鈥 of the players.
Continue reading "Eating a Big Mac after beating England"
- John Beattie
- 23 Jan 07, 02:29 PM
Glasgow - Anyone know where Charlotte Church is? I need her to sing at a gig in Edinburgh in a couple of weeks?
Sometimes there is so much more to life than a mere result and although I am writing this while we all wait for the Scottish rugby team to take on England to be announced, sometimes it鈥檚 worth pausing to realise that friendship is more important than who scores more points.
A couple of my former Scottish team mates have health problems and I want to say hello to them without naming them, and I talked to two current Scottish rugby players last night.
Scrum half Chris Cusiter and back row man Kelly Brown are going to play in my band on 10 February at a big function to try to raise money for .
Continue reading "Banging the drum for rugby's casualties"
- John Beattie
- 17 Jan 07, 12:45 PM
I was born in Borneo, and swinging from tree to tree helped me in later years as I ended up playing rugby for Scotland.
This was predicted, funnily enough, by my Malaysian headmaster who said, on the day I left to start his new life in Scotland as an eleven year old: 鈥淏eattie, you are the roughest boy we have ever had here - you will surely play rugby for your new country.鈥
I won 25 caps and went on two British Lions tours and on retiring slid into broadcasting even though Chartered accountancy was tugging at my heart strings..
I play guitar in a rock band for fun, coach West of Scotland rugby club, and host radio and TV programmes North of Hadrian鈥檚 wall.
I鈥檓, frankly, a bit alarmed that my son, also John, now plays international rugby as it doesn鈥檛 seem that long since the child was brought home in a blanket.
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