Jim Telfer

James Telfer (born 17 March 1940) is a Scottish former rugby union coach and player. As a player, he won 21 international caps in the amateur era, also having a career as a headmaster at Hawick High School and Galashiels Academy and Forrester High School as a chemistry teacher. With Sir Ian McGeechan he had success with both the Scotland national team and the British Lions.

Playing career

Telfer played for Melrose RFC and was still a student when he was first selected for international duties. He later worked as a chemistry teacher. His first cap came against France at Murrayfield on 4 January 1964. His last match for Scotland was on 28 February 1970 at Lansdowne Road against Ireland.

Telfer gained twenty one caps for Scotland, and, but for injury, might have gained more. Allan Massie wrote of him:

"Telfer is a man of innate authority. (There's a wealth of quiet reserve and self-knowledge, touched by that form of self-mockery which appears as under-statement, in the way he will describe himself as being a 'dominant personality')"

Telfer played back row for Scotland and for the British Lions in 1966 and 1968. He was impressed and heavily influenced by New Zealand rugby. After a cartilage operation he slowed up. He played 23 games for the British Lions on their 1966 tour to Australia and New Zealand and 11 games on their 1968 tour to South Africa.

Between 1963 and 1967, he played 8 times for the Barbarians, scoring six points.

George Crerar said of him "The great thing about Jim Telfer is that he makes sure that if he isn't going to win the ball the other side won't get it either."

Coaching career

Telfer was head coach to the British Lions on their tour of New Zealand in 1983. He was assistant coach, with particular responsibility for the forwards, on the 1997 British Lions tour to South Africa, where he made his well-known motivational 'Everest' speech to the forwards before the 1st Test.

Telfer coached Scotland to the Grand Slam in 1984 and, as assistant to Ian McGeechan, to his second Grand Slam in 1990. In his third term as head coach from 1998 to 1999, Scotland won the final Five Nations Championship.

In 2014 he was coaching the Melrose RFC Under-18 team – Melrose Wasps.

Telfer has been open about copying some New Zealand approaches to the game.

Scotland (1981–1984)

International matches as head coach

Matches (1981–1984)
Matches	Date	Opposition	Venue	Score (Sco.–Opponent)	Competition	Captain
1981
1	17 January	Template:Nrut	Parc des Princes, Paris	9–16	1981 Five Nations	Andy Irvine
2	7 February	Template:Nrut	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh	15–6
3	21 February	Template:Nrut	Twickenham, London	17–23
4	21 March	Template:Nrut	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh	10–9
5	13 June	Template:Nrut	Carisbrook, Dunedin	4–11	1981 tour
6	20 June		Eden Park, Auckland	15–40
7	26 September	Template:Nrut	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh	12–6	Romania tour
8	19 December	Template:Nrut		24–15	Australia tour
1982
9	16 January	Template:Nrut	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh	9–9	1982 Five Nations	Andy Irvine
10	20 February	Template:Nrut	Lansdowne Road, Dublin	12–21
11	6 March	Template:Nrut	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh	16–7
12	20 March	Template:Nrut	Arms Park, Cardiff	34–18
13	4 July	Template:Nrut	Ballymore Stadium, Brisbane	12–7	1982 tour
14	10 July		Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney	9–33
1983
15	15 January	Template:Nrut	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh	13–15	1983 Five Nations	Roy Laidlaw
16	5 February	Template:Nrut	Parc des Princes, Paris	15–19
17	19 February	Template:Nrut	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh	15–19
18	5 March	Template:Nrut	Twickenham, London	22–12		Jim Aitken
19	12 November	Template:Nrut	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh	25–25	New Zealand tour
1984
20	21 January	Template:Nrut	Arms Park, Cardiff	15–9	1984 Five Nations	Jim Aitken
21	4 February	Template:Nrut	Murrayfield Stadium	18–6
22	3 March	Template:Nrut	Lansdowne Road, Dublin	32–9
23	17 March	Template:Nrut	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh	21–12
24	20 May	Template:Nrut	Stadionul Dinamo, Bucharest	22–28	Test match
25	8 December	Template:Nrut	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh	12–37	Australia tour	Roy Laidlaw

Record by country

Opponent	Played	Won	Drew	Lost	Win ratio (%)	For	Against
Template:Country data AUS	57	92
Template:Country data ENG	66	50
Template:Country data FRA	61	54
Template:Country data IRE	67	54
Template:Country data NZL	44	76
Template:Country data ROM	34	34
Template:Country data WAL	79	52
TOTAL	408	412

Scotland (1993–1995, 1998–1999)

The period 1995–98 saw Telfer promoted as director of rugby for the Scottish Rugby Union. Richie Dixon was the head coach of the Scotland National team during this time. Telfer stepped in as head coach of Scotland when Dixon quit in 1998.

International matches as head coach

Matches (1993–1995, 1998–99)
Matches	Date	Opposition	Venue	Score (Sco.–Opponent)	Competition	Captain
1993
1	20 November	Template:Nrut	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh	15–51	New Zealand tour	Gavin Hastings
1994
2	15 January	Template:Nrut	Arms Park, Cardiff	6–29	Five Nations	Gavin Hastings
3	5 February	Template:Nrut	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh	14–15
4	5 March	Template:Nrut	Lansdowne Road, Dublin	6–6
5	19 March	Template:Nrut	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh	12–20
6	4 June	Template:Nrut	Estadio Arquitecto Ricardo Etcheverri, Buenos Aires	15–16	Argentina tour	Andy Reed
7	11 June			17–19
8	19 November	Template:Nrut	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh	10–34	South Africa tour	Gavin Hastings
1995
9	21 January	Template:Nrut	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh	22–6	Test match	Gavin Hastings
10	4 February	Template:Nrut		26–13	Five Nations
11	18 February	Template:Nrut	Parc des Princes, Paris	23–21
12	4 March	Template:Nrut	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh	26–13
13	18 March	Template:Nrut	Twickenham Stadium, London	12–24
14	22 April	Template:Nrut	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh	49–16	RWC Warm-up
15	26 May	Template:Nrut	Olympia Park, Rustenburg, South Africa	89–0	World Cup
16	30 May	Template:Nrut	Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria, South Africa	41–5
17	3 June	Template:Nrut		19–22
18	11 June	Template:Nrut		30–48
1998
19	7 February	Template:Nrut	Lansdowne Road, Dublin	17–16	Five Nations	Gary Armstrong
20	21 February	Template:Nrut	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh	16–51
21	7 March	Template:Nrut	Wembley Stadium, London	13–19
22	22 March	Template:Nrut	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh	20–34
23	26 May	Template:Nrut	National Stadium, Suva	26–51	Oceania tour	Rob Wainwright
24	13 June	Template:Nrut	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney	3–45
25	20 June		Lang Park, Brisbane	11–33
26	21 November	Template:Nrut	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh	10–35	South Africa tour	Bryan Redpath
1999
27	6 February	Template:Nrut	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh	33–20	Five Nations	Gary Armstrong
28	20 February	Template:Nrut	Twickenham Stadium, London	21–24
29	6 March	Template:Nrut	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh	30–12	Test match	Eric Peters
30	20 March	Template:Nrut		30–13	Five Nations	Gary Armstrong
31	10 April	Template:Nrut	Stade de France, Saint-Denis	36–22
32	21 August	Template:Nrut	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh	22–31	RWC Warm-up
33	28 August	Template:Nrut	Hampden Park, Glasgow	60–19
34	3 October	Template:Nrut	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh	29–46	World Cup
35	8 October	Template:Nrut		43–12
36	16 October	Template:Nrut		48–0		Bryan Redpath
37	20 October	Template:Nrut		35–20		Gary Armstrong
38	24 October	Template:Nrut		18–30

Record by country

Opponent	Played	Won	Drew	Lost	Win ratio (%)	For	Against
Template:Country data ARG	54	64
Template:Country data AUS	14	78
Template:Country data CAN	22	6
Template:Country data ENG	67	97
Template:Country data FIJ	26	51
Template:Country data FRA	106	136
Template:Country data IRE	89	48
Template:Country data ITA	30	12
Template:Country data CIV	89	0
Template:Country data NZL	63	129
Template:Country data ROM	109	35
Template:Country data SAM	35	20
Template:Country data RSA	49	115
Template:Country data ESP	48	0
Template:Country data TGA	41	5
Template:Country data URU	43	12
Template:Country data WAL	78	81
TOTAL	963	889

Honours

In 2021, World Rugby inducted Telfer into its World Rugby Hall of Fame, alongside Osea Kolinisau, Humphrey Kayange, Huriana Manuel, Cheryl McAfee and Will Carling.

As a player

• Template:Nrut
  • Five Nations Championship
    • Winner: 1964
    • Runner-up: 1966, 1967
  • Calcutta Cup
    • Winner: 1964, 1965, 1966

As a coach

• Template:Nrut
  • Five Nations Championship
    • Winner: 1984, 1999
    • Grand Slam: 1984
    • Runner-up: 1981, 1982, 1995
  • Triple Crown
    • Winner: 1984
  • Calcutta Cup
    • Winner: 1983, 1984
  • Centenary Quaich
    • Winner: 1994, 1995, 1998, 1999

• Template:Nrut (as assistant coach)
  • Five/Six Nations Championship
    • Winner: 1990
    • Grand Slam: 1990
    • Runner-up: 1989, 1992, 1993
  • Triple Crown
    • Winner: 1990
  • Calcutta Cup
    • Winner: 1989, 1990, 2000
  • Centenary Quaich
    • Winner: 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 2001

Sources

• Bath, Richard (ed.) The Complete Book of Rugby (Seven Oaks Ltd, 1997 Template:ISBN)
• Massie, Allan A Portrait of Scottish Rugby (Polygon, Edinburgh; Template:ISBN)
• Telfer, Jim Jim Telfer: Looking Back... For Once (Mainstream Publishing, 2005, Template:ISBN)

External links

• Jim Telfer (The Scotsman)
• Template:Replace on YouTube

Template:S-endTemplate:British and Irish Lions 1966Template:British and Irish Lions 1968Template:British and Irish Lions 1983Template:Scotland Squad 1995 Rugby World CupTemplate:British and Irish Lions 1997Template:Scotland Squad 1999 World CupTemplate:Authority control