Roy Laidlaw

Jed-Forest Rugby Football Club honored Roy Laidlaw and their other two famous Scrum-Halves Gary Armstrong and Greig Laidlaw with a gala diner on 2 August 2019. All three played for the British Lions and captained their National side.

This has since been surpassed following Finn Russell and Greig Laidlaw (Roy's nephew) starting together in the final pool A game at the 2019 Rugby World Cup against Japan on 13 October 2019 in Yokohama.

Laidlaw partnered stand off John Rutherford a record 35 times for Scotland. As of 1988 this was a world record.

Jim Telfer, who was Scotland coach by that point, considered that Laidlaw's ability to break was Scotland's sharpest attacking weapon in the 1984 Grand Slam, settling the Ireland match in the first twenty minutes.

In 1983, he became captain of Scotland, and his style was described as being like "Gareth Edwards rather than Jacques Fouroux." Massie added:

Laidlaw gained a place in the test team on the 1983 British Lions tour to New Zealand, after the loss of first Terry Holmes and then Nigel Melville to injury, playing in all four tests. In total he played in a notably high number of games; 13 of the 18. He scored two tries on the tour and captained the Lions team twice, in the victories over West Coast and Wairarapa Bush.

Although he was first capped against Ireland in 1980, he didn't become a regular until 1981. Amongst the highlights of his career, were his two tries in the Triple Crown decider in Dublin, and when he scored a long range solo try against England.

He was an international reserve for three seasons, before getting capped again in 1980.

Writing during Laidlaw's international career in the mid-1980s, Allan Massie said that:

At the time, Dougie Morgan was holding down the scrum half position in the Scotland team, having displaced Alan Lawson. As Lawson refused to act as replacement, Laidlaw gained a place on the bench. When Morgan retired in 1979, the selectors brought back Lawson, with Laidlaw staying on the bench. Laidlaw continued his good form for Scotland B, and finally gained a place in the Scotland team in the 1980 season, having sat on the bench for 10 games without coming on as a replacement.

Laidlaw came to prominence in the late 1970s due to a string of good performances for Scotland B, then managed by Jim Telfer.

Roy James Laidlaw (born 5 October 1953) is a Scottish rugby union player. Laidlaw was capped 47 times, as a scrum half, for Scotland between 1980–1988, and British Lions in New Zealand in 1983.