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The Centurions

Scotland currently has four players who have won 100 or more caps for their country.

Our four centurions are Donna Kennedy (115 caps), Chris Paterson (109 caps), Sean Lamont (105 caps) and Ross Ford (104 caps, though as he is still in the international squad he seems certain to add to that mark).

Donna Kennedy was the world record holder of caps in women’s rugby until she was surpassed by England prop Rochelle Clark earlier in the 2016-17 season.

Kennedy’s international career began in the very first international that Scotland Women contested – in 1993 against their Irish counterparts.

A No 8, brave and aggressive, Kennedy’s international career spanned an amazing 17 years, being persuaded to bin retirement plans on a couple of occasions along the way.

She did eventually hang up her boots after the 2010 Women’s World Cup – in which Scotland finished in eighth position – but she has remained heavily involved in the game, as head coach of English Women’s Premiership side, Worcester.

A trophy in her name is now a key part of the selection process for the Scotland Women’s team.

Chris Paterson began his international career in the 1999 Rugby World Cup and concluded with his fourth tournament in New Zealand 12 years later.

Along the way he amassed a record 809 points with Gavin Hastings and current captain Greig Laidlaw some distance off.

Paterson’s unflappable goal-kicking technique, which he honed in many hours of practice, meant that at a time when Scotland found the currency of five point tries hard to come by, the Gala man was so often their match-winner.

A stand-off in his school days at Galashiels Academy, Paterson captained Scotland on 13 occasions and saw his international career involve 50 appearances on the wing, 44 at full-back, 14 at stand-off and once as a replacement centre.

Arguably his most significant outing in the No 10 shirt was Scotland’s 2003 Rugby World Cup pool decider against Fiji. It was Paterson’s first cap international in the pivotal position, four years into his international career. Scotland had to win to qualify for the quarter-finals.

Paterson’s conversion of a late Tom Smith try, allied to five earlier penalties, ensured Scotland progressed 22-20.

Paterson’s 100th cap, against Wales at the Millennium Stadium in 2010, ended with a serious kidney injury, but, again, it spoke volumes for the strength of his recovery that he fought his way back into international selection and fully merited his selection for the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

Sean Lamont won his first cap on Scotland’s 2004 Australasia tour having first made an international impact as part of the Scotland 7s squad at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester.

Big and bold, Sean was joined by his younger brother, Rory, in Scotland selection in 2005, underlining that siblings have always played a part in the rich history of rugby in Scotland.

During a career which saw him play his club rugby for Glasgow Warriors, Northampton and Scarlets, Lamont recovered from serious injury, to become a key figure in Scotland selection.

He has scored 14 tries during his career, his most recent cap coming against Japan during Scotland’s 2016 summer tour.

Perhaps his most famous try-scoring contribution came in the first game of the 2006 RBS 6 Nations Championship when his brace against France – one in each half, the second as part of a driving maul! – helped Scotland to a 20-16 victory.

Sean has been an outstanding servant of Scottish Rugby and returned to his sevens roots as a member of the Scotland 2014 Commonwealth Games squad in Glasgow.

Ross Ford, a product of the Kelso club, made the successful transition from back-row forward – a position in which he had won international age-grade honours as a teenager – to hooker and is the first Scottish male forward to reach the 100 caps mark.

Ford won his first cap in 2004, making his debut against Australia.  It was fitting symmetry that the Wallabies were his opponents when the 100 came up 12 years later.

A Lion in South Africa in 2009, featuring off the bench in a Test victory, Ford captained Scotland on eight occasions in 2012, winning all three Test matches on the summer tour of Australia, Fiji and Samoa.

His tries for Scotland both occurred in victories: against Portugal in the opening match of the 2007 Rugby World Cup in St Etienne; and against Argentina in the second Test of the 2008 tour.

All his professional club rugby has been played in Scotland, either with Edinburgh Rugby or the now defunct Border Reivers.

Ford is the world’s third most capped hooker, behind New Zealand’s Keven (correct) Mealamu and Australia’s Stephen Moore.