Jim Telfer

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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.^[1] He later worked as a chemistry teacher.^[2] His first cap came against France at Murrayfield on 4 January 1964.^[3] His last match for Scotland was on 28 February 1970 at Lansdowne Road against Ireland.^[4]

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')"^[5]

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.^[5] After a cartilage operation he slowed up.^[5] He played 23 games for the British Lions on their 1966 tour to Australia and New Zealand^[6] and 11 games on their 1968 tour to South Africa.^[7]

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

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."^[9]

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.^[10]^[11]^[12]

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.^[13]

Telfer has been open about copying some New Zealand approaches to the game.^[13]

Coaching statistics

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	Template:Nrut	Eden Park, Auckland	15–40	1981 tour
7	26 September	Template:Nrut	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh	12–6	Romania tour
8	19 December	Template:Nrut	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh	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	Template:Nrut	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney	9–33	1982 tour
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	Jim Aitken
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
File:Flag of Australia (converted).svg Australia Template:WDL	57	92
File:Flag of England.svg England Template:WDL	66	50
File:Flag of France.svg France Template:WDL	61	54
File:IRFU flag.svg Ireland Template:WDL	67	54
File:Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand Template:WDL	44	76
File:Flag of Romania.svg Romania Template:WDL	34	34
File:Flag of Wales (1959–present).svg Wales Template:WDL	79	52
TOTAL Template:WDLtot	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	Template:Nrut	Estadio Arquitecto Ricardo Etcheverri, Buenos Aires	17–19	Argentina tour	Andy Reed
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	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh	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	Template:Nrut	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	Five Nations	Gary Armstrong
29	6 March	Template:Nrut	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh	30–12	Test match	Eric Peters
30	20 March	Template:Nrut	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh	30–13	Five Nations	Gary Armstrong
31	10 April	Template:Nrut	Stade de France, Saint-Denis	36–22	Five Nations
32	21 August	Template:Nrut	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh	22–31	RWC Warm-up
33	28 August	Template:Nrut	Hampden Park, Glasgow	60–19	RWC Warm-up
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		Gary Armstrong

Record by country

Opponent	Played	Won
File:Flag of Argentina.svg Argentina Template:WDL	54	64
File:Flag of Australia (converted).svg Australia Template:WDL	14	78
File:Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Canada Template:WDL	22	6
File:Flag of England.svg England Template:WDL	67	97
File:Flag of Fiji.svg Fiji Template:WDL	26	51
File:Flag of France.svg France Template:WDL	106	136
File:IRFU flag.svg Ireland Template:WDL	89	48
File:Flag of Italy.svg Italy Template:WDL	30	12
File:Flag of Côte d'Ivoire.svg Ivory Coast Template:WDL	89	0
File:Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand Template:WDL	63	129
File:Flag of Romania.svg Romania Template:WDL	109	35
File:Flag of Samoa.svg Samoa Template:WDL	35	20
File:Flag of South Africa.svg South Africa Template:WDL	49	115
File:Flag of Spain.svg Spain Template:WDL	48	0
File:Flag of Tonga.svg Tonga Template:WDL	41	5
File:Flag of Uruguay.svg Uruguay Template:WDL	43	12
File:Flag of Wales (1959–present).svg Wales Template:WDL	78	81
TOTAL Template:WDLtot	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.^[14]

As a player

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

As a coach

Template:Col-float

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:Col-float-break

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

Template:Col-float-end

References

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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)
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Jim Telfer

Contents

Playing career

Coaching career

Coaching statistics

Scotland (1981–1984)

International matches as head coach

Record by country

Scotland (1993–1995, 1998–1999)

International matches as head coach

Record by country

Honours

As a player

As a coach

References

Sources

External links

Navigation menu

Jim Telfer

Playing career

Coaching career

Coaching statistics

Scotland (1981–1984)

International matches as head coach

Record by country

Scotland (1993–1995, 1998–1999)

International matches as head coach

Record by country

Honours

As a player

As a coach

References

Sources

External links

Navigation menu

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