View source for Finlay Calder

{{short description|British Lions & Scotland international rugby union player}}
{{BLP sources|date=March 2012}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Infobox rugby biography
| name              = Finlay Calder<br>{{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|OBE}}
| image             =
| caption           = 
| birth_name        = 
| birth_date        = {{birth date and age|1957|8|20|df=y}}
| birth_place       = [[Haddington, East Lothian]], [[Scotland]]
| death_date        = 
| death_place       = 
| height            = 
| weight            = 
| ru_position       = [[Flanker (rugby union)|Flanker]]
| province1         = [[Edinburgh District (rugby union)|Edinburgh District]]
| province2         = [[Combined Scottish Districts]]
| provinceyears1    = -
| provinceyears2    = 1986
| provinceapps1     = 
| provincepoints1   = 
| ru_provinceupdate = 
| repteam1          = [[Scotland B national rugby union team|Scotland 'B']]
| repteam2          = [[Scotland national rugby union team|Scotland]]
| repteam3          = [[British and Irish Lions]]
| repyears1         = 1983-84
| repyears2         = 1986-91
| repyears3         = [[1989 British Lions tour to Australia|1989]]
| repcaps1          = 2
| repcaps2          = 34
| repcaps3          = 3
| reppoints1        = 
| reppoints2        = 8
| reppoints3        = 0
| ru_ntupdate       = 
| amatyears1        = -
| amatteam1         = [[Stewart's Melville RFC|Stewart's Melville]]
| amatteam2         = [[Heriot's Rugby Club|Heriots]]
| ru_amupdate       = 
| occupation        = 
| family            = 
| spouse            = 
| children          = 
| relatives         = [[Jim Calder (rugby union)|Jim Calder]] (brother)<br/>[[Lewis Calder]] (nephew)
| school            = [[Stewart's Melville College]]
| university        =  
}}

'''Finlay Calder''' [[OBE]] (born 20 August 1957) is a [[Scotland national rugby union team|Scotland]] international former [[rugby union]] player.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.espnscrum.com/scotland/rugby/player/9986.html|title=Finlay Calder|website=ESPN scrum}}</ref>

==Rugby Union career==

===Amateur career===

Born in [[Haddington, East Lothian|Haddington]], [[East Lothian]]<ref name="ESPN profile">{{cite web |url=http://en.espn.co.uk/scotland/rugby/player/9986.html |title=Rugby: Player profile: Finlay Calder, Scotland |publisher=[[ESPN]] |access-date=3 October 2015}}</ref> and educated at [[Stewart's Melville College]],

Calder played at open side [[Flanker (rugby union)|flanker]]. He played for [[Stewart's Melville RFC|Stewart's Melville]] and [[Heriot's Rugby Club|Heriots]].

===Provincial career===

He played for [[Edinburgh District (rugby union)|Edinburgh District]]. He was part of the side that won the [[1986–87 Scottish Inter-District Championship]].

He played for [[Combined Scottish Districts]] on 1 March 1986 against [[South of Scotland District (rugby union)|South of Scotland]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=GGgVawPscysC&dat=19860303&printsec=frontpage&hl=en | title=The Glasgow Herald - Google News Archive Search }}</ref>

===International career===

He received 2 caps for [[Scotland B national rugby union team|Scotland 'B']] in 1983 to 1984.

His full international debut was against France in 1986.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.espnscrum.com/statsguru/rugby/player/9986.html|title=Rugby Union - ESPN Scrum - Statsguru - Player analysis - Finlay Calder - Test matches|website=ESPN scrum}}</ref>

He won 34 caps representing [[Scotland national rugby union team|Scotland]] from 1986 to 1991. His last international game was against [[New Zealand]] in the third-place play-off match in the [[1991 Rugby World Cup]].

He captained the [[British and Irish Lions]] [[1989 British and Irish Lions tour to Australia|tour]] to [[Australia]] in 1989.

Richard Bath wrote that
:"''Calder's ability to use his drive, determination and innate knowledge of the game to overcome his undoubted shortcomings - in particular he was always a bit slow for an out-and-out open-side - helped him become one of the most effective back-row operators of the modern era. If he and the other two members of the Grand Slam back row [[John Jeffrey]] and [[Derek White (rugby union)|Derek White]] could not impose their own game, they certainly would make sure that the opposition could not impose theirs''".<ref name=Bath>{{cite book |editor-last=Bath |editor-first=Richard  |title=The Complete Book of Rugby |publisher=Seven Oaks Ltd |date=1997 |isbn=1-86200-013-1 |pages=127–8}}</ref>

When in 1989 Calder captained the Lions, he was the first Scottish player selected to do this since [[Mike Campbell-Lamerton]] in 1966 and the first captain to lead the side to victory since Willie John McBride in 1974.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/finlay-calder-1-463926 |title=Finlay Calder |work=[[The Scotsman]]|date=2 May 2002 |access-date=3 October 2015}}</ref>

==Honours==
Calder was appointed OBE in the [[1990 New Year Honours]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=zjlAAAAAIBAJ&sjid=YVkMAAAAIBAJ&pg=2806%2C2670024 |title=Lions captain rewarded |work=The Herald |date=30 December 1989 |page=9 |access-date=11 April 2017}}</ref>

== Family ==
His twin brother [[Jim Calder (rugby union)|Jim Calder]] also played for Scotland and the Lions.<ref name=Bath/> The brothers never played in the same Scotland side; Jim won the last of his caps against Wales in March 1985 and Finlay made his debut against France in January 1986.

He has two children.

==References==

{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
* {{Scottish Sports Hall of Fame|finlay-calder-obe}}
* [http://www.sporting-heroes.net/rugby-heroes/displayhero.asp?HeroID=458 Finlay Calder] - on the Sporting Heroes database
* [http://www.2005lions.net/tour1989.shtml Fin Calder's Lions] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041204024626/http://www.2005lions.net/tour1989.shtml |date=4 December 2004 }} - including nine Scottish players ([[Gary Armstrong (rugby)|Gary Armstrong]], [[Craig Chalmers]], [[Peter Dods]], [[John Jeffrey]], [[Gavin Hastings]], [[Scott Hastings (rugby union)|Scott Hastings]], [[David Sole]], [[Derek White (rugby union)|Derek White]] and Finlay Calder himself)
* [http://www.2005lions.net/finlay1.shtml Fin Calder looks back on the 1989 Lions tour to Australia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050107091415/http://www.2005lions.net/finlay1.shtml |date=7 January 2005 }}

{{Scotland Squad 1987 World Cup}}
{{Scotland Squad 1991 World Cup}}
{{British and Irish Lions 1989}}
{{British and Irish Lions team captains}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Calder, Finlay}}
[[Category:1957 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Scotland]]
[[Category:Heriot's Rugby Club players]]
[[Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:People educated at Stewart's Melville College]]
[[Category:Rugby union flankers]]
[[Category:Rugby union players from Haddington, East Lothian]]
[[Category:Scotland 'B' international rugby union players]]
[[Category:Scotland international rugby union players]]
[[Category:Scottish rugby union players]]
[[Category:Stewart's Melville RFC players]]
[[Category:Scottish twins]]
[[Category:Scottish Districts (combined) players]]
[[Category:1987 Rugby World Cup players]]
[[Category:1991 Rugby World Cup players]]

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