John Jeffrey

Last updated

John Jeffrey
Date of birth (1959-03-25) 25 March 1959 (age 63)
Place of birth Kelso, Scottish Borders
Rugby union career
Position(s) Flanker
Amateur team(s)
YearsTeamApps(Points)
- Kelso ()
Provincial / State sides
YearsTeamApps(Points)
- South of Scotland ()
National team(s)
YearsTeamApps(Points)
1983-84 Scotland 'B' 3
1984–91 Scotland 40 (44)

John Jeffrey (born 25 March 1959 in Kelso in the Scottish Borders) is a former Scotland international rugby union player. He is an administrator for World Rugby.

Contents

Rugby Union career

Amateur career

Jeffrey was educated at St. Mary's School, Melrose and Merchiston Castle School. [1]

His nicknames were "The Great White Shark" and "JJ", the former widely thought to be because of his blonde hair, though in a 1990 book called 'The Grudge' by Tom English, it is a nickname that was given to him because of his very white skin. [2]

He played for Kelso.

Provincial career

He played for South of Scotland.

International career

He was capped by Scotland 'B' 3 times between 1983 and 1984.

He won forty caps for Scotland between 1984 and 1991, making him, at the time, Scotland's most capped flanker. Often known to be first to the breakdown point, first with the tackle, or first with an inspired counter, Jeffrey had the ability to score important tries, of which he scored 11, another Scottish record at the time, shared with back-row colleague Derek White.

Journalist, Richard Bath, described him as "one of the most galvanising sights in Five Nations rugby throughout the 1980s and early 1990s." [2] He was an outstanding performer in the Grand Slam season of 1990.

In 1988, after playing football with the Calcutta Cup along Princes Street in Edinburgh with England's Dean Richards, Jeffrey received a six-month ban from the Scottish Rugby Union. [3] Richards received a one match sentence from the English Rugby Football Union. [2] The trophy was severely dented, and cost hundreds of pounds to repair. Jeffrey later admitted to having been drunk at the time of the incident: "There was no doubt it was us. It was a mix of alcohol and high jinks. I think I had sobered up a bit by the time I got back to the hotel. I remember looking at the cup and thinking, 'hmmm, we could be in a spot of bother here'." [4]

Jeffrey had been a British and Irish Lion on the 1989 Tour of Australia, ironically being kept out of the Test side by his national team-mates Finlay Calder and Derek White, and Englishmen Mike Teague who would be on the losing side against Jeffrey in the Calcutta Cup match the following year.

During the 1990 Hong Kong Sevens, Jeffrey played for Scotland 7s, but when they were knocked out, he went on to play for Wales 7s as they were suffering from too many injuries. [5]

Coaching career

He has been involved in coaching the Scotland youth teams.

Administrative career

He has been a member of the International Rugby Board (Now called World Rugby) Council and head of referees since 2010. In December 2020 Jeffrey was appointed as Chairman of the Scottish Rugby Board. [6] In December 2022 Scottish Rugby announced that Jeffrey would stand down as Chairman in May 2023 but would remain on the board. [7]

Farming career

Jeffrey's "day job" was his Borders farm, of which he had only one regret: "If I stand on a hill I can see England." [2]

Broadcasting career

He commentates at rugby games on BBC Radio Scotland's Sportsound programme.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Calcutta Cup</span> Rugby competition between Scotland and England

The Calcutta Cup is the trophy awarded to the winner of the rugby match between England and Scotland played annually in the Six Nations Championship. Like the match itself (England–Scotland), the Calcutta Cup is the oldest trophy contested between any two international rugby union teams. And pre-dates the Bledisloe Cup by 53 years, 135 days. It is also the oldest of several trophies awarded under the umbrella of the Six Nations Championship, which include the Millennium Trophy (England–Ireland), Centenary Quaich (Ireland–Scotland), Giuseppe Garibaldi Trophy (France–Italy), Auld Alliance Trophy (France–Scotland), the Doddie Weir Cup (Scotland–Wales) and the Cuttitta Cup (Italy–Scotland).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scotland national rugby union team</span> National rugby union squad

The Scotland national rugby union team represents Scotland in men's international rugby union and is administered by the Scottish Rugby Union. The team takes part in the annual Six Nations Championship and participates in the Rugby World Cup, which takes place every four years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Paterson</span> Scotland international rugby union player

Christopher Douglas Paterson, MBE is an ambassador and specialist coach for the Scotland and Edinburgh rugby union teams. He is a former professional rugby union player who played for Scotland and, for the most part of his career, Edinburgh. Paterson is Scotland's record points scorer with 809 points and second most-capped player with 109 caps. He was capable of playing in a range of positions, including fullback, wing and fly-half.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jason White (rugby union)</span> British Lions & Scotland international rugby union player

Jason Phillip Randall White is a Scottish former rugby union footballer. He was a utility forward who played in the second or back row of the scrum – lock, flanker, or number eight. White played at club level for Glasgow Caledonians ; the French Top 14 side ASM Clermont Auvergne; and English Premiership side Sale Sharks. He won 77 caps playing for Scotland, captaining the side on 19 occasions.

Sir Ian Robert McGeechan, OBE is a retired Scottish rugby union player, coach and teacher. Born in Leeds, McGeechan represented Headingley as his only club during a 15-year club career, qualifying for Scotland through his father he played 32 times internationally for Scotland over 7 years and won 8 caps on two tours for the British & Irish Lions. During his playing career he worked as a teacher. Upon retiring from player McGeechan began coaching, in a career spanning 26 years he coached the most recent Scottish side to win a grandslam in the 1990 Five Nations Championship, and won Premiership Rugby & the European Cup with London Wasps in 2008 & 2007. He was head coach on four tours for the British & Irish Lions spanning 1989 to 2009 and was an assistant to the 2005 tour as well.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gavin Hastings</span> British Lions & Scotland international rugby union player

Andrew Gavin Hastings, is a Scottish former rugby union player. A fullback, he is widely regarded to be one of the best ever Scottish rugby players and was one of the outstanding players of his generation, winning 61 caps for Scotland, 20 of which as captain. He played for Watsonians, London Scottish, Cambridge University, Scotland and the British Lions. He twice toured with the British and Irish Lions, to Australia in 1989 and as captain on the 1993 tour to New Zealand.

James Telfer is a Scottish former rugby union coach and player. As a player, he won 21 international caps in the amateur era, also having a career as a headmaster at Hawick High School and Galashiels Academy and Forrester High School as a chemistry teacher. With Sir Ian McGeechan he had success with both the Scotland national team and the British Lions.

Gary Armstrong is a former Scotland international rugby union player. He played scrum-half for Jed-Forest RFC, Newcastle Falcons and the Border Reivers.

Bryan William Redpath is a former Scotland international rugby union player and former rugby union coach. He is currently the Director of Rugby at London Scottish.

Finlay Calder OBE is a Scotland international former rugby union player.

William Pollock McLaren was a Scottish rugby union commentator, teacher, journalist and one time rugby player. Known as 'the voice of rugby', he retired from commentating in 2002. Renowned throughout the sport, his enthusiasm and memorable turn of phrase endeared him to many.

Robert Iain Wainwright is a former rugby union footballer who was capped 37 times for Scotland and once for the British and Irish Lions. He played flanker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ross Ford</span> British Lions & Scotland international rugby union player

Ross William Ford is a Strength and Conditioning coach for the Scottish Rugby Academy. He was previously a Scotland international rugby union player who played as a hooker. He made 110 test appearances for Scotland, making him their most-capped player. He played in three World Cups and toured with the British & Irish Lions in 2009, making one appearance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ian Smith (rugby union, born 1903)</span> British Lions & Scotland international rugby union player

Ian Scott Smith was a rugby union wing who played 32 Tests for Scotland and two Tests for the British Isles. Born in Melbourne, Australia, and brought up in New Zealand, Smith moved to England and was educated at Winchester College, before studying at Oxford University and later Edinburgh University. At Oxford he took up rugby and was eventually selected for Scotland, for whom he was eligible because of his Scottish parents. He toured with the British Isles to South Africa in 1924, and played all four matches in Scotland's first ever Five Nations Grand Slam in 1925. He represented Scotland until 1933 when he captained them in their Triple Crown winning season. His 24 international tries, all scored in the Five Nations or Home Nations, was an international record until 1987 and a record for the Five/Six Nations until 2011. This record stood for 88 years until 2021, when it was broken by Stuart Hogg.

Gary Callander was a Scottish international rugby union player who made six international appearances for the Scotland national team 1984–1988. He played in the Hooker position. He coached Haddington, Gala, Watsonians and Kelso.

Dean Richards is a rugby union coach and former player for Leicester Tigers, England and British & Irish Lions. He was most recently the Director of Rugby at Newcastle Falcons, a position he held for ten years between 2012 and 2022.

Frederick Harding Turner was a Scotland international rugby union player.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adam Kelso Fulton</span> Scotland international rugby union player

Adam Kelso Fulton was a Scottish rugby union internationalist.

Cameron Redpath is a Scotland international rugby union player who plays as an inside centre for Bath in the Gallagher Premiership.

References

  1. ↑ "John Jeffrey handed Moredun honorary fellowship". The Courier (Dundee) . 16 September 2014. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Bath, p141
  3. ↑ McMurtrie, Bill. "Ban on Jeffrey over Calcutta Cup affair". The Herald. Glasgow. p. 1. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  4. ↑ "Six Nations 2013: The drunken night when Dean Richards and John Jeffrey trashed the Calcutta Cup". 31 January 2013. ISSN   0307-1235 . Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  5. ↑ Hands, David (2 April 1990). "Fijians perform in a way unmatched even by All Blacks". The Times. London, UK.
  6. ↑ "John Jeffrey appointed chairman of the Scottish Rugby board". The Scotsman. 3 December 2020. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  7. ↑ "Scottish Rugby begin hunt for new chair but John Jeffrey to remain on board". The Scotsman. 6 December 2022. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
Sources
  1. Bath, Richard (ed.) The Complete Book of Rugby (Seven Oaks Ltd, 1997 ISBN   1-86200-013-1)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.