How 'force of energy & positivity' Hastings left indelible mark on rugby

How 'force of energy & positivity' Hastings left indelible mark on rugbyImage source, SNSImage caption, Scotland rugby great Scott Hastings died on SundayByTom EnglishBBC Scotland's chief sports writerPublished1 minute agoThe rain was belting down in Invercargill, the southernmost spot in New Zealand, a place founded by a Scottish settler in the 1850s and nicknamed the city of water and light. Whatever about the light, they got the water bit right.It was September 2011 and the Rugby World Cup was on. When Mick Jagger toured here with the Rolling Stones in 1965 he infamously called it the "arsehole of the world" but Scott Hastings begged to differ.In two days' time, Scotland were playing Georgia and Hastings was in town as a television summariser, one of the things he turned to, including business, when his playing days ended.The city was quiet, but scampering down Esk Street in the torrential rain of early evening a racket could be heard in the distance.Looking in the window of a pub it seemed like half the population was in there. One person was on a chair holding court, leading the sing-song, conducting the crowd, loving life. Scott Hastings was doing The Proclaimers. It was only polite to go in and take a look."What a place this is!" he gushed, of Invercargill, excitement bursting out of him like he was in some rooftop bar in downtown Tokyo or a speakeasy in the East Village in New York.As a moment captured in time, that was him, adapting to circumstances, no matter what they were. He was a force of energy and positivity, in his rugby career and after his rugby career, in happy family times and in days that were profoundly sad, in his work and his charity work.Scotland rugby great Scott Hastings dies at 61Published4 hours ago'I go back to the bay where my wife died every week'AttributionNewsPublished15 September 2025Ex-rugby player completes record canal swim for teammate's late wifeAttributionNewsPublish...