The 1990 Calcutta Cup: A day where unconventional methods and passion triumphed

John Allan hadn’t been involved with Scotland long when he was part of the squad that beat England on what Scottish rugby fans remember as their team’s most famous day and also the day that Murrayfield patrons first got to sing all the verses of Flower of Scotland.

But even though he went on to play for the Springboks and also was part of some famous Currie Cup final wins for Natal/the Sharks, he looks back at that day in March 1990 as undeniably the most memorable day of his rugby career. And he wasn’t even playing. He sat on the bench.

“I was there as a reserve hooker. I had only played some of the trial games up to that point as I had only been in the country for three months,” recalls Allan.

“It all started in a club match I played for Edinburgh Academic against Hawick. I was just intending to play a few games and then head back to South Africa, but it all turned around in that one game. I desperately wanted to meet the legendary commentator, Bill McLaren. Funny, for lots of rugby players a player would be their hero, but McLaren was my hero growing up. I met him before the game and we agreed to meet for a drink afterwards. We beat Hawick that day, and only afterwards did I learn that it was the first time we’d done that in a long, long time.

“After the game I was having a drink with Bill in a very loud reception area and got a bit irritated when two guys came up and interrupted us. I didn’t know who they were and didn’t like being interrupted as I was enthralled with the conversation I was having with Bill. They spoke to him and briefly chatted to me but I couldn’t really make out what they were saying so just politely nodded my head and shook their hands.

“When they left Bill told me they were Ian McGeechan and Jim Telfer, the two Scottish coaches. I hadn’t recognised them. Bill told me that in nodding my head I had first told them that I was available for Scotland, for that was what they’d asked, and then I had agreed to play for Scotland. It all started there. I’d played the game of my life to impress Bill McLaren and it ended up securing me an international career with Scotland.”

LEARNING THE HISTORY

Ironically, that was 1990, the year which Natal, the team Allan played for in South Africa, won the Currie Cup for the first time. It also turned out to be a massive year for Scotland, in more ways than one. The Scots had won the Five Nations and the Grand Slam before, six years earlier in 1984, but they beat France in the decider. In 1990 the enemy was England, their archest rivals, and there was so much other history that went with it.

“I was a youngster and new to the Scotland team so there were things I could not fathom, and one of those things was that while we sung Flower of Scotland in the changeroom before the game, when we went out on the field and stood for the anthems we sung Scotland the Brave,” says Allan.

“It was only after inquiring that I was told the history. Singing the Flower of Scotland was outlawed because of the part where it mentions Prince Edward’s army being sent home again. That didn’t go down with the late Queen Elizabeth, so we couldn’t sing it officially on match days, and of course neither could our fans.

“But ahead of that 1990 Calcutta game, which was for four trophies because in addition to the Calcutta Cup the Five Nations trophy, the Grand Slam and the Triple Crown were on the line, there was a whole hoo ha in Scotland. We were playing the deciding game against England and everyone was really geed up.

“Anyway, our captain David Sole asked the patron of Scottish rugby, Princess Ann, at some function he attended where she was present, if we could sing it for the first time officially. Princess Ann asked the Queen, and the Queen agreed. We saw that as a massive boost, to the extent that we went the night before the game to visit the composers of the song, who gave us a special rendition. At that stage I personally did not know how much it all meant to the Scots.

“That became apparent the next day, on the team bus on the way to the ground. We were driving through the tenement houses on the way into Murrayfield. There were 10 000 people lining those streets, people who couldn’t afford to pay for tickets to go to the game. As the bus crawled through there, Gavin Hastings started to hum Flower of Scotland, and then the whole team joined in.

“I saw seasoned campaigners, guys like John Jeffrey and Finlay Calder, with tears in their eyes. And then I looked outside and saw all the faces of the Scottish people who expected so much of us. That is when I realised what it meant and what a big day this was. We were 12 to one outsiders. England had demolished all opposition. But then I knew something special was going to happen.”

BEATING UP SCOTS ON THE 18TH GREEN

According to Allan, it had already been an extraordinary day. First came something that was incredibly left field and which Allan couldn’t believe was real.

“We were staying outside Edinburgh at a hotel attached to a well known golf course. Two and a half hours before kick-off we were called by Telfer to come out to the 18th green. There, waiting for us, was the local Edinburgh Warriors team, all dressed in English jersey. Jim told us that ‘We can only beat England if we ruck them’. Ferocious rucking was still allowed in those days.

“Jim told us to kick the stuffing out of the guys standing in front of us. Someone, I think it was Finlay Calder, shouted out that we couldn’t do it, these were Scottish people standing in front of us. But they shouted back ‘No, we’re effing English, kill us, kill us!! So for half an hour we kicked the shit out of those poor guys. Then we were told to run to the bus, it was all very unbelievable.”

McGEECHAN’S LEGENDARY SPEECH

Then came a speech from head coach Ian McGeechan that Allan felt exceeded any pre-match oratory he had ever experienced.

“We were in the team room. McGeechan speaks quietly, not like Telfer. He was very intellectual, his lip was quivering. I can’t remember exactly what he said, but he spoke about passion and the lead up to the game, how no one believed in us but then how with each win we got closer to this point, he spoke about previous Scottish teams that beat England, and said that the point of difference was always that we had Scottish hearts, they didn’t.

“It was the most riveting motivational speech. And it wasn’t just haphazard, it was all linked to aspects of our game that we’d worked on and what we’d planned to do to disrupt England. This was how we were going to disrupt their lineouts, this was how we were going to ruck, this was what we were going to do with the fast ball that came our way. He must have planned that speech really, really well but it was delivered like it was off the cuff.”

Skipper David Sole then weighed in shortly before the game with a famous speech which was a forerunner for Rassie Erasmus’ speeches to the Springboks ahead of the 2019 World Cup final, based around what the Scottish nation expected and how “today is a day where your body doesn’t belong to you”.

It was all based around that first official singing of the Flower of Scotland at Murrayfield, something that was pivotal to the Scottish achievement on the day.

“David reminded us that it was the first time ever ‘these people will sing for you, England will run out first, we won’t run, we will walk’. And that is what we did. When the crowd saw that they knew we weren’t there just to make up the numbers, that we were there with a furious intent to win the game.

“Then when we sung the Flower of Scotland for the first time in front the Murrayfield crowd, we were so pumped, the whole venue was pumped. As a youngster I couldn’t believe how the fans got in behind us. It brought a massive intensity and the intensity of the Scottish performance and the support from the stands never wavered the whole game. It wasn’t that big a win on the scoreboard and we scored a second half try to effectively win it, but it was a comprehensive win, we always knew we were going to win.”

BEING HUMBLE WAS ONE OF THE LIFE LESSONS FROM THE DAY

Afterwards Allan learned another valuable lesson about life, something he has kept close to him when it comes to how to deal with winning and losing.

“There were two things I learned that day, the first being that passion overcomes talent, the second that you should always be humble. When we left the stadium we had a big function to attend, members of the Royal Family were going to be present. It was a really fancy dinner. But we got there late. On the way out of the stadium, Finlay Calder instructed the bus driver to turn right, and not left. We drank our first beers at a local pub in among the tenement houses. Finlay told us these people are the reasons we beat England. At first there were about 600 people there but then by word of mouth everyone was heading in our direction, and there were about 6000 people there. You know what they say about Scots, but we paid for those beers too!

“That is one of my greatest memories. Our drive to be humble. Our decision not to go straight to the fancy function that was waiting for us, but to celebrate with our fans first.”