AT the age of 85, Easton Roy will set out to prove later today that when it comes to rugby you are only as old as you feel.
Front rower Easton has been named in the Boroughmuir-based Baggy Pipers team which will compete in the Air New Zealand world golden oldies festival at the Capital's Roseburn Park.
Special rules will apply to the truly venerable and these include e
nsuring that older players can only be held as opposed to tackled.
But, it is in keeping with the spirit that has carried Easton through a career spanning 67 years and counting that he sneers at such charity.
"Och, they aren't going to be allowed to breath on me in case I fall over," he says with a hint of contempt in his voice, adding: "Mind you they said the same thing before my last game the other week and I still finished with a black eye."
The mind boggles at just what reception Easton would have received when returning home in Stirling to wife of 60 years, Sarah.
"Happy about me playing? Oh dear, oh dear. I don't think Sarah has ever been happy about my rugby," says Easton with the air of a man determined to prove that some aspects of married life, such as pulling on a pair of boots, are non-negotiable.
Easton's attraction to rugby began back in 1941 and so deeply did the bug bite that he still prepares for matches with gym equipment at home including a rowing machine.
"I didn't know the first thing about rugby when the RAF posted me to the Bahamas while the Duke of Windsor spent part of the War as Governor in the wake of the abdication crisis.
"Some Welsh lads in my regiment persuaded me to give rugby a go and, from the start, I discovered rugby was a great game.
"When I came home I played for a combined Strathallan and Stirling HS former pupils' team but the re-formation of the Stirling County club really got me going. I was always a club player who enjoyed the social side of rugby and my serious sporting interest was rowing where I won a Scottish title in 1947.
"I've played for a few teams including the Edinburgh Auld Reekies golden oldies and have never had cause to regret it. I've travelled as far as Hong Kong to watch rugby and made a lot of friends including some I'm looking forward to meeting over the next week."
The full article contains 428 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
