He then featured for the Co-Optimists in 1986 , who beat Papa New Guinea and Canada before losing to the French Barbarians .

Following his playing career , Gary took on a coaching role at Haddington Rugby Club . In 1993 , alongside Simon Scott , he began coaching the Scottish Students team .

He later held coaching positions at Gala , Watsonians and Kelso . Away from rugby , Gary ran a successful electrician business . Gary is survived by his mother , Mary , his children , Torrie and Becky , and his former wife Diane . Kelso RFC also paid tribute to their former captain and coach .

” I moved south for many years working and living in Birmingham and Nottingham . Whilst I was undertaking chemotherapy for a cancer diagnosis , myself and some fellow patients started talking about what we would do once our recovery was complete . Jumping out of a plain , riding a horse with no clothes on were some of the many ideas from my friends and then I was asked what I would do and I said I was going to buy a church and turn it into a house .

I started looking for a vacant church for sale and one of the

ones that caught my eye was situated at Eckford in the Scottish Borders . Being a big rugby fan and the viewing of the church coinciding with the Scotland / South Africa game , this would have been about 5 / 6 years ago I contacted a couple of Rugby Clubs in the borders and asked if I could attend the club to watch the match with my wife . Within an hour Kelso Rugby Club rang me back and invited me along to enjoy their hospitality . On arrival Dougie who was working behind the bar had prepared two seats one for me and one for Lynne ; going out of his way to make us feel very welcome , the rest is history as they say and that ’ s how I moved to the area . Subsequently I became a supporter and sponsor of the club with my businesses firstly Borders Joinery Conservation and then Borders Fixings . The Rugby Club and its openness made making friends very easy and soon Jim

Hewitt and I , as well as many others became good friends , the club really opened their doors to us all .

As a family we all enjoy our rugby with both my sons Adam and Jordan keen on this great sport and the newest addition to the family Elias my grandson I ’ m sure will follow in our footsteps , already a regular visitor to the club .

A few of the players at Kelso now work for me which is great and I cant speak highly enough about the personnel down at the club and the respect I have for all the hard work the put in especially president Scott Forbes and the passion he poured into this great club . I would like to wish everyone associated with Kelso Rugby Club the very best of continued success for many years to come and congratulations on being chosen as Rugby Club Magazines `Scottish Club of The Year 2021` !”