Gavin Hastings odd Jambo out as brothers back Hibs

DAVID FERGUSON
Published on Saturday 19 May 2012 00:00

CHILDHOOD rivalries in one of the most famous sporting households in Scotland will be reprised today when Hearts and Hibs take to the field at Hampden Park.

The Hastings brothers, Gavin and Scott, who remain the most-capped siblings in Scottish rugby history, grew up on either side of the Edinburgh football divide, and Gavin was ‘marooned’ as a Hearts fan, as the eldest of the four Hastings brothers, Graeme, and youngest Ewan, joined Scott in following the Hibees.

Rugby was to take over their lives after Gavin and Scott made their Scotland debuts together against France in 1986, went on to represent the British and Irish Lions together in and play in three World Cup tournaments alongside each other. The well-known duo have since become successful businessmen and Scott is now a leading television commentator, and so the childhood passions for football are no longer as strong.

But Scott insisted: “They’ll be coming back out this weekend; I can sense it already.

“Our eldest brother Graeme has been in Melbourne in Australia for 30-odd years now and he’s planning to watch the game out there with a lot of ex-pats, and I spoke to Gavin yesterday and while we’ve both got other commitments this weekend and so won’t be at the game we’ve both enjoyed watching the clubs come through to what is going to be an historic final, and the rivalry has come out again.”

Asked why the family was split in the way it was, Scott said: “I honestly don’t know.

“I suppose with brothers there is just always that rivalry in sport and you don’t want to do the same as your older brother perhaps. If Wimbledon was on we were out in the back yard playing tennis against each other, if the Ashes was on we’d be playing cricket against each other and when the Open came around our back garden was cut short and we had putting competitions.

“I think with the football there was a green and white scarf in the cupboard and I pinched it one day, and Hibs became my team. I was probably sick of wearing maroon and white all day because I was at George Watson’s.

“We started going to games and I liked guys like John Brownlie and Arthur Duncan and Jim McArthur with those big moustaches, and then George Best came along and that was us hooked. Some friends and I started going to Easter Road regularly then.”

The younger of the Hastings rugby caps cannot quite remember his first Hibs match, but he has a good memory is of a landslide of goals from the Easter Road side.

“The first game I can remember was a friendly in the mid-70s when Hibs put nine past St Johnstone. I remember the game and seeing all these goals, but I also remember it because I was so scared that I might meet St Johnstone fans on the way out that we ran all the way from Easter Road to the St James Centre at the final whistle.

“But it was great fun growing up with that sporting passion and I’m really looking forward to this weekend. On one hand it’s a pity that the seasons are so long now that guys don’t play football or rugby and then cricket or golf as much as I did, because the seasons go on so long now, but on the other hand with a great cup final in Scotland, the Champions League and Heineken Cup Finals, the good old Jed Sevens and cricket getting going this is a cracking weekend for sport.”

While Graeme is in Australia, the youngest brother Ewan works at the Eric Liddell Centre in Edinburgh and is busy preparing for events linking the great Scottish Olympian with the return of the Olympic Games to the UK this summer. Gavin has been working as an HSBC ambassador at rugby sevens and golf tournaments around the world, having been at the heart of bringing Barcelona to Scotland for games with Hearts and Hibs at Murrayfield when he worked with Platinum One. However, when asked to comment on why he was the sole Hearts supporter in the Hastings household, and his feelings for the weekend, the former Scotland and Lions captain was unavailable for comment. Perhaps he fears the backlash from his siblings if his side do not emerge triumphant this afternoon. And we thought he was the big bold one of the Hastings family . . .

Taken from the Scotsman