Andrew Douglas Nicol (born 12 March 1971) is a former

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

international

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player. A scrum-half, Nicol won 23

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

for

and had brief spells as a replacement on two

British & Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England national rugby union team, England, Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland, Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland, and ...

tours.

Rugby Union career

Amateur career

Nicol was born on 12 March 1971 in

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

and educated at the

High School of Dundee The High School of Dundee is a private, co-educational, day school in Dundee, Scotland, which provides nursery, primary and secondary education to just over one thousand pupils. Its foundation has been dated to 1239, and it is the only private sc ...

and Dundee Institute of Technology (now

Abertay University Abertay University () is a public university in the city of Dundee, Scotland. In 1872, Sir David Baxter, 1st Baronet of Kilmaron, left a bequest for the establishment of a mechanics' institute in Dundee and the Dundee Institute of Technology w ...

). He played for

Dundee HSFP Dundee HSFP is a former rugby union team that played their home games at the Mayfield Playing Fields, Dundee, Scotland. The club disbanded in 2021. The team was founded in 1880 by former pupils of the High School of Dundee. The men's side pla ...

Provincial and professional career

In the amateur era Nicol played for

North and Midlands North and Midlands - and now known as Caledonia - is a select provincial amateur rugby union team that draws its players mainly from north of Scotland, roughly corresponding from around Stirling northwards. Historically the North and Midlands ...

. When the game turned professional Nicol played for

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

. As captain of

, he was the first British player to lift the

Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Investec Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

, when they defeated

Brive Brive-la-Gaillarde (; Limousin dialect of ), commonly known as simply Brive, is a commune of France. It is a sub-prefecture and the largest city of the Corrèze department. It has around 46,000 inhabitants, while the population of the agglome ...

in 1998. In 1999 Nicol moved from Bath to Glasgow Warriors. He made his competitive debut for the Glasgow provincial side on 3 September 1999, playing an away match against

Pontypridd Pontypridd ( , ), Colloquialism, colloquially referred to as ''Ponty'', is a town and a Community (Wales), community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales, approximately 10 miles north west of Cardiff city centre. Geography Pontypridd comprises the ...

in the Welsh-Scottish League. He became Glasgow Warrior No. 65. Nicol retired at the end of the 2002–03 season,

International career

Nicol played for Scotland 'B' against France 'B' on 2 March 1991; he played for the 'B' side again against Ireland 'B' on 28 December 1991. Nicol made his debut for Scotland in 1992 against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Over 10 years he won 23 caps for Scotland, a period when he faced strong competition for selection from scrum halves Gary Armstrong and

Bryan Redpath Bryan William Redpath (born 2 July 1971) is a Scottish former rugby union player and coach. He is the Director of Rugby at London Scottish. Early life and family Redpath attended Kelso High School in Kelso, Scottish Borders. His elder brot ...

. He never played in a World Cup, not being selected in 1991 and 1999, and being injured in 1995. Nicol captained Scotland in 2000 when Scotland beat England 19–13 at a rain-soaked

Murrayfield Murrayfield is an area to the west of Edinburgh city centre in Scotland. It is to the east of Corstorphine and north of Balgreen, Saughtonhall and Roseburn. The A8 road (Scotland), A8 road runs east–west through the south of the area. Murra ...

and so prevented England from achieving the Grand Slam. Nicol was a replacement on the

1993 British Lions tour to New Zealand In 1993 the British Lions rugby union team toured New Zealand. This was the last Lions tour in the sport's amateur era. The Lions were managed by Geoff Cooke, coached by Ian McGeechan and Dick Best, and captained by Gavin Hastings. The Lio ...

, when he appeared in one game, playing six minutes. He was also called up as a late replacement for the Lions on their 2001 tour, replacing

Austin Healey Austin Sean Healey (born 26 October 1973 in Wallasey (now part of Merseyside, formerly Cheshire), is an English former rugby union player who played as a utility back for Leicester Tigers, and represented both England and the British & Irish L ...

, whilst on holiday in Australia. In total he spent seven days with the Lions across two tours.

Coaching career

Nicol managed a Scottish-based sevens team, Bone Steelers, at the Dubai 7s from 2004 until 2006 and again in 2009.

Other interests

On 16 February 2007, Nicol was defeated in the Rectorial election at the

University of Dundee The University of Dundee is a public research university based in Dundee, Scotland. It was founded as a university college in 1881 with a donation from the prominent Baxter family of textile manufacturers. The institution was, for most of its ...

. Former British Ambassador

Craig Murray Craig John Murray (born 17 October 1958) is a Scottish author, human rights campaigner, journalist, and former diplomat. While he was the British ambassador to Uzbekistan (2002–2004), he exposed the violations of human rights in that count ...

was duly elected Lord Rector with 632 votes to Nicol's 582. He was awarded an honorary degree by Abertay University in 2013. Nicol is a commentator for BBC Sport.

References

External links

Sporting Heroes Profile
*
Lions profile
1971 births Living people People educated at the High School of Dundee Alumni of Abertay University Scottish rugby union players British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Scotland Rugby union scrum-halves Glasgow Warriors players Bath Rugby players Scottish rugby union coaches Scotland international rugby union players Dundee HSFP players Scotland international rugby sevens players Male rugby sevens players Rugby union players from Dundee {{Scotland-rugbyunion-bio-1970s-stub