Alex Hastie

Alexander James Hastie (29 July 1935 – 7 June 2010), also known as Alex Hastie or Eck Hastie[1] was a Scottish rugby union player.[2] who played at scrum-half and was commonly linked with David Chisholm:

"They played together for Melrose for eleven seasons, in the course of which Chisholm scored more than a thousand points for the club... As a pair their understanding made them more than the sum of two individuals. Did Hastie ever lose Chisholm in any of the thirteen internationals they played together? It was their joint ability to tidy up bad ball and even turn it to advantage that made them the most secure of partnerships. Both tackled better than many wing forwards, and they would have revelled in the modern game... Their record of going ten internationals without defeat is unparalleled."[3]

Neither of them made it onto the British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand. Hastie was said to have a particularly "effective hand-off".[4]

Bill McLaren thought that:

"Hastie was one of that Border breed of durable scrum-halves, all 'shilpit' little chaps, seemingly in need of a good meal and all of whom, through operating behind lightweight packs always struggling for ball, had to live on their wits and raw courage."[5]