Greig Laidlaw

Greig Laidlaw (born 12 October 1985) is a Scottish rugby union player. He plays as a scrum-half and as a fly-half for Clermont Auvergne. Laidlaw holds the record for most caps as captain, 39, of the Scottish national team. He also represented the British and Irish Lions in 2017.

Greig Laidlaw
Birth nameGreig David Laidlaw
Date of birth (1985-10-12) 12 October 1985
Place of birthEdinburgh, Scotland
Height1.76 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in)
Weight80 kg (12 st 8 lb; 176 lb)
SchoolJedburgh Grammar School
Occupation(s)Professional rugby union player
Rugby union career
Position(s) Scrum-half / Fly-Half
Current team ASM Clermont Auvergne
Youth career
– Jed-Forest
– Jed Thistle
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2007–2014 Edinburgh Rugby 137 (598)
2014–2017 Gloucester Rugby 59 (559)
2017– Clermont Auvergne 49 (358)
Correct as of 15 December 2019
National team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
2004–2006 Scotland U21 14 (0)
2008–2011 Scotland A 10 (0)
2011–2019 Scotland 76 (714)
2017 British and Irish Lions 0 (0)
2018 Barbarians 1 (7)
Correct as of 17 September 2019
National sevens team(s)
Years Team Comps
2008–2010 Scotland 7s 8 (0)

Although Laidlaw is a scrum half, he is often used as the first-choice goal kicker by his teams. Laidlaw has scored over 700 points for Scotland in his career and is one of the highest points scorers in rugby union history.

Personal life

A nephew of Scotland scrum half Roy Laidlaw,[1] he joined Edinburgh in the summer of 2006. His first-team opportunities were limited at first behind Scotland scrum half Mike Blair, but in 2010 he signed a new two-year contract.

His earlier representative rugby included games for Borders under-16 and under-18 as well as Scotland under-18. After stints with the Scotland sevens and under-21 sides, he made his full Scotland debut against New Zealand at Murrayfield in November 2010. In January 2011, he was called up to Scotland's Six Nations squad and, although he did not get any game time, he was retained in Andy Robinson's 40-man squad ahead of the World Cup. He captained Scotland A to wins over the Ireland Wolfhounds and Italy A in early 2011, and then skippered Edinburgh in the Celtic League.

Club career

On 4 March 2014 it was announced that Laidlaw would depart Murrayfield at the end of the season and join English Premiership side Gloucester.[2]

After spending three seasons with English Premiership side Gloucester, Laidlaw would depart Kingsholm at the end of 2016–17 season and join French Top 14 side Clermont Auvergne on a three-year deal.[3]

International career

Scotland

He became a regular part of the Scotland team during the 2012 Six Nations, following Dan Parks' sudden retirement after the first round of the tournament. He took on the kicking duties, and in his first start against Wales he scored all of Scotland's 13 points, including a try.[4] He remained at fly-half throughout the rest of 2012 at both international and club level, and captained Edinburgh to a semi-final appearance in that year's Heineken Cup.

The 2013 Six Nations saw Ruaridh Jackson recalled to the national side, so Laidlaw was shifted back to scrum-half while still taking Scotland's kicks. He was second-leading scorer of the season with 61 points, behind Wales' Leigh Halfpenny.[5] He was left out of the 2013 Lions squad, instead heading to the South African Quadrangular Tournament with Scotland. He kicked a last-minute conversion against Italy to salvage something from an underwhelming tournament, giving Scotland a 30–29 victory. He continued to captain Edinburgh throughout the 2013–14 season, missing out on a place in the Amlin Challenge Cup on points difference. Laidlaw was also named as the captain of Scotland internationally in 2013, and has since captained the country 39 times, the most of any Scottish player.

Laidlaw missed the 2017 Six Nations Championship due to injury, with flanker John Barclay standing in as captain during Laidlaw's absence. Laidlaw returned to Scotland for the 2018 Six Nations Championship, retaining his place as a regular starter under new coach Gregor Townsend.

With injury to John Barclay, Laidlaw was re-instated as the Scottish Captain during the 2018 end-of-year rugby union internationals.

After 7 years playing for and captaining the national side Laidlaw retired from international rugby in December 2019. Laidlaw's 714 points in 76 test matches places him second on the Scotland all-time points list behind Chris Paterson.[6]

British and Irish Lions

On 6 May 2017, Laidlaw was called up to 2017 British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand as England international Ben Youngs withdrew from the tour party due to family reasons.[7]

Barbarians

In 2018, Greig Laidlaw was capped with the Barbarians against England during the mid-year rugby tests. He scored a conversion and a try, helping his team beat England 45–63 at Twickenham.[8]

With this game he became (with his teammate Finn Russell) not only one of the few Scottish players to beat England at home in modern rugby, but also one of the even fewer Scotsmen to beat England twice the same year.

References
  1. Turnbull, Simon (13 October 2012). "Greig Laidlaw: Thirsty for more Heineken". The Independent. London.
  2. "Edinburgh and Scotland captain Greig Laidlaw seals Gloucester move". Sky Sports. 4 March 2014.
  3. "Confirmed: Greig Laidlaw Leaving Gloucester Rugby for France". GloucestershireLive. 12 October 2016.
  4. Palmer, Bryn (12 February 2012). "Greig Laidlaw: Six Nations: Wales 27–13 Scotland".
  5. "Leading scorers Six Nations 2013". Statbunker.
  6. Media, P. A. (19 December 2019). "Greig Laidlaw, former Scotland captain, retires from international rugby". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  7. "The British & Irish Lions this evening expressed their support for the Youngs family following the announcement that Ben has withdrawn from the squad for family reasons". British and Irish Lions. 6 May 2017. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
  8. "England 45–63 Barbarians: Chris Ashton notches hat-trick as Baa-Baas run riot". Sky Sports.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.