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Glasgow Warriors announcement on Monday that Al Dickinson had signed on at Scotstoun as scrum coach reminded me of this piece below I wrote for the now sadly gone Scrum Magazine back in 2019.  It seemed like a decent excuse to re-use it.

Take a look also at Dicko's retirement interview here,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=190&v=HjBpYJNviCE

As below, despite the news today, Al is still one of my prop heroes. Thankfully Edinburgh seem to be lining up WP Nel for  a similar role and he's not too shabby either.  


My all-time favourite Edinburgh fifteen has been guided by just one thing.

I haven’t selected anyone with less than 50 appearances for the club. It's arbitrary I know but I don’t think that you can be a club stalwart unless you’ve reached at least that mark.

It is after all my all-time XV.

  1. Allan Jacobsen. Who else can you choose to fill the loosehead berth but Chunk? The man is a legend and his dedication to the cause over 14 years and 286 caps has been immortalised in the physical form of the Caullie Lug. 

Also considered – N/A


  1. Ross Ford. Again there really is no choice to be had at hooker. Another man for whom loyalty has been his watchword. Scotland’s most capped forward and a British Lion. Edinburgh’s most capped hooker. Everyone has an opinion on Fordy but most rugby players can only dream of such a career.

Also considered – N/A


  1. Alistair Dickinson. Yes, I know he was a loosehead but its fantasy right? I used to be a prop and Dicko was the player I always hoped to be. A fantastic scrummager with great technique, he was also a mobile prop before that became fashionable. Probably one of the fittest props ever. 

Also considered – Geoff Cross.


  1. Scott Murray.  Murray was before my time as a dedicated Edinburgh supporter so I remember him more for Scotland. There is no doubt though that the Musselburgh man was a quality player as his 87 caps and 3 world cups for Scotland would attest to. 

Also considered – Al Kellock


  1. Nathan Hines. A ferocious competitor who after representing Edinburgh for 6 years went to play for Perpignan, Leinster, Clermont and Sale Sharks. He also toured with the British Lions and was desperately unlucky not to be given a test spot. Andy Robinson, once said of him, “He delivers a phenomenal performance every time”. 

Also considered – Jim Hamilton


  1. Roddy Grant. Perhaps one of the most unlucky players of his generation not to be capped for Scotland. Always competitive and wholehearted. Despite being poached by he whose name should not be repeated, for Ulster, I hope we see him back as head coach one day. Also considered – Simon Taylor


  1. Hamish Watson. The Mish or Pinball. He doesn’t do press-ups he pushes the ground back. Superman wears pants with Watson’s face thereon. Always makes ground and is always worth watching.  Also considered – Jamie Ritchie



  1. Viliama Mata. He’s your favourite, he’s my favourite, he’s everybody’s favourite. It’s Big Bill Mata. Is there anyone who doesn’t wish Bill was Scottish? He’s rampaging, he offloads and almost every game he limps off like he’ll be injured indefinitely only to re-appear the next game. Cockers said he’d sell one of his children to keep him at the club. A joke of course but we know what he meant. 

Also considered - Ally Hogg


  1. Greig Laidlaw. This was a toss-up. Greeg or Mike Blair. In the end I gave it to the Jed man because of his ability with the boot and the fact he never turned out for Glasgow. Present and significant for 2 of the most notable games in Edinburgh’s history. Our Captain when we fell just short against Ulster in the Heineken Cup in 2012 and then our nemesis in 2015 when he kicked 11 of Gloucester’s 19 points to help them win the Challenge Cup. We don’t hold it against him though. 

Also considered – Mike Blair


  1. Chris Paterson. With over 1000 points for Edinburgh in his two spells at the club Mossy is the outstanding candidate for fly-half in this side. He could equally have been selected at wing or full-back. A much better fly half than a pundit. The only MBE in this line-up.

Also Considered – N/A


  1. Tim Visser. Best kicker quickly followed by best ever try scorer. The (sorry) Flying Dutchman was the PRO12 top try scorer in 4 of the 5 seasons he played for Edinburgh and amassed 345 points in that time. Prolific doesn’t quite cut it and remember it was Edinburgh he was playing for.

Also considered – N/A


  1. Matt Scott. Local boy representing his home town and if that wasn’t enough I’m a huge fan of his style of play. Robust and also elusive. Just to make me feel really old I played with his dad for Lothian and Borders Police back in the day.

Also considered – Marcus Di Rollo


  1. Brendan Laney. I’ve stepped back a bit to include chainsaw for two reasons. Firstly the thought of Laney, Scott and Van Der Merwe in the same side all bludgeoning the opposition into submission is kind of exciting and secondly because 76 appearances in 4 years aligned to 409 points is not to be sniffed at. 

Also considered – Simon Webster 


  1. Duhan van Der Merwe. I’m cheating slightly because at the time of writing Duhan wasn’t quite at the fifty caps mark but by my calculations will celebrate his half century on the day of the first leg of this year’s 1872 or as near as damn it. He’s not the most subtle but you sit forward in your seat when he gets the ball and defenders have to gather in numbers to try and stop him. He’s exciting to watch so gets my nod. 

Also considered - Darcy Graham


  1. Blair Kinghorn. At 22 years old Blair already has 64 Edinburgh caps, has amassed 135 points for the club and been named in the PRO14 dream team in 2018. He can also play on the wing and even at stand-off. It was no coincidence that Edinburgh’s league and cup campaigns last year came off the rails after he was injured  playing for Scotland. I was at his debut and have been a proponent of his ever since.

Also considered - Mossy

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