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Smith to wear special jersey as Scotland remember Hastings
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Scott Hastings will be remembered at Murrayfield on Saturday as Scotland host Fiji in their final game of the Nations Championship.
The centre, a much-loved and much-decorated player, passed away suddenly in May aged 61. The tributes that came after his passing said much about his reputation across the rugby world.
Warm and gregarious, Hastings made 65 Test appearances for his country, a record at the time. He wore the number 13 jersey with distinction.
Against Fiji, Ollie Smith will wear a special version of that 13 shirt. The number 13 will be done in gold and inside the numbers will be the names of the teams Hastings turned out for in his career as well as some of his notable achievements.
“We’ve thought about what we can do just to make sure Scott’s legacy as a Scotland player is on show,” Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend said.
“I know there’ll be a build-up before the game. There will be messages to supporters and people watching on TV will get the tributes to Scott.
“For us, we’re highlighting his number, so number 13. The iconic images I have of Scott when I was a supporter was him playing in that 13 jersey against England in the Grand Slam game in 1990.
“I got to play alongside him, but the message we want to send out there is Scott, ‘you were the 13 for so many years’, so we’re going to have that number in gold and it’ll stand out.
“I think it’ll be a great moment for the supporters to show their appreciation before the game and see his legacy during the game.”
Hastings, along with his brother Gavin, was a Watsonians boy who went on to play for the British and Irish Lions in a winning tour of Australia in 1989 and again in New Zealand in 1993, a tour his brother captained.
Between Tests and midweek games he wore the Lions jersey a dozen times while also making 13 appearances for the famed Barbarians.
The highlight of his career was, of course, the 1990 Grand Slam, achieved on a momentous day in March against England at his beloved Murrayfield.
The try-saving tackle that Hastings made on Rory Underwood that day has gone into Scottish rugby folklore. Last autumn he was inducted into the Scottish Rugby Hall of Fame as a salute to an international career that spanned 11 years.
A crowd of 50,000 is expected at Murrayfield for the Fiji Test, a significant attendance for what is a relatively low-key occasion, but an occasion that now has an enormous resonance given the emotional and no doubt rousing tribute the stadium will pay to one of its favourite sons.
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Published4 hours ago
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Published17 May

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Published17 May

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