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

Breaking news from the world of sport: How 'force of energy & positivity' Hastings left indelible mark on rugbyImage source, SNSImage caption, Scotland rugby great Scott Hastings died on SundayByTom English Scotland's chief sports writerPublished39 minutes 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.

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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 61 Published4 hours ago'I go back to the bay where my wife died every week' Published15 September 2025Ex-rugby player completes record canal swim for teammate's late wife Published25 September 2025Strong man on the field & even stronger off itHastings always had a smile on his face.

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He was a charity campaigner, a great friend and champion of Doddie Weir in life and in death. He was heavily involved in raising awareness and funds for research into motor neurone disease, the condition that took the big man in 2022. Hastings had his own challenges at that time.

He had been fighting non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a cancer that affects that white blood cells that help you fight infection. He spoke about it with humour and with a fierce determination to beat it. The extraordinary thing was there were other awful things he had to contend with, the suffering of his beloved wife, Jenny, in particular.

Jenny had been living with depression for two decades before taking her own life in the autumn of 2024. He spoke with immense power of his life with her, their fantastic ups of having children and travelling the world through rugby and then the pain of her illness. Depression would take hold of her for months at a time.

The story has climbed to the top of the sports agenda, with fans and analysts following closely.