David Thom (14 February 1910 – December 1981) was a

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. He became the 79th President of the

Scottish Rugby Union The Scottish Rugby Union (SRU; ) is the Sport governing body, governing body of rugby union in Scotland. Now marketed as Scottish Rugby, it is the second-oldest Rugby Union, having been founded in 1873. The SRU oversees the national league sys ...

Rugby Union career

Amateur career

Thom was playing for the Hawick Y.M.C.A. side, Hawick Y.M., before then playing for

Hawick Hawick ( ; ; ) is a town in the Scottish Borders council areas of Scotland, council area and counties of Scotland, historic county of Roxburghshire in the east Southern Uplands of Scotland. It is south-west of Jedburgh and south-south-east o ...

. He was still playing for

right at the start of the 1929–30 season when he was a reserve for the Hawick side for the

Kelso Sevens Kelso Sevens is an annual rugby sevens event held by Kelso RFC, in Kelso, Scotland. This was one of a group of Sevens tournaments instated after the First World War extending the original Borders Spring Circuit. The Kelso Sevens began in 1920. ...

. His last game for Hawick was on 26 October 1929 where he contributed in a fine victory over Selkirk. Thom moved to London for work and then played for London Scottish. He was one of the famous London Scottish 'live wires'. In October 1933, a notable London Scottish win over Blackheath hit the headlines. More remarkable than the win was the versatility of Thom. The London Scottish scrum half George McLaren broke a bone in his wrist and couldn't continue. To the surprise of the crowd it was Thom who then filled in at scrum half. The ''Edinburgh Evening News'' reported:

Thom tackled the job like an expert. Not only did he sling the ball out in the approved manner but he surprised his international vis-a-vis E. B. Pope by 'dummying' his way through on more than one occasion.

He was one of the London Scottish sevens side that reached the final of the 1937

Melrose Sevens Melrose Sevens is an annual rugby sevens event held by Melrose Rugby Club, at The Greenyards in Melrose, Scotland. It is the oldest rugby sevens competition in the world, dating back to 1883 when the tournament was suggested by former Melros ...

, only to be beaten by

Gala Gala may refer to: Music * ''Gala'' (album), a 1990 album by the English alternative rock band Lush * Gala (singer), Italian singer and songwriter *'' Gala – The Collection'', a 2016 album by Sarah Brightman * GALA Choruses, an association of ...

by a last minute score.

Provincial career

He was picked for the South of Scotland District against Edinburgh District for their junior match on 26 February 1927. He was picked for the

Anglo-Scots Anglo is a prefix indicating a relation to, or descent from England, English culture, the English people or the English language, such as in the term ''Anglosphere''. It is often used alone, somewhat loosely, to refer to people of British pe ...

side to play the combined North and South district on 21 December 1929. Thom played the match. The Anglo-Scots were beaten 14–13.

International career

He was capped 5 times for

in the period 1934–35.

Administrative career

He became the 79th President of the Scottish Rugby Union. He served the standard one year from 1965 to 1966.

Outside of rugby union

He worked in London for Peter Scott & Co. Ltd, a hosiery manufacturer.

References

1910 births 1981 deaths Scottish rugby union players Scotland international rugby union players Presidents of the Scottish Rugby Union London Scottish F.C. players Hawick RFC players Hawick Y.M. players Rugby union players from Hawick South of Scotland District (rugby union) players Scottish Exiles (rugby union) players Rugby union flankers {{Scotland-rugbyunion-bio-1910s-stub