TEASER ANSWERS Our Mystery Player was John Beattie. And it was TRUE – daughter Jen Beattie won 143 caps for Scotland – at football – while her dad John and her brother Johnnie Beattie won their caps at rugby. LEAGUE WINNERS? Ahead of last Saturday’s matches in the Gallagher English Premiership, there was real excitement about who could qualify for the Premiership play-offs. Well, that was certainly the case if you fell for all the media hype and the artificially created tension of the “let’s go round the grounds” updates. Both in football and rugby, we have been suckered into the PR and Marketing dream creation of play-offs. In football, Sunderland “qualified “ for the Premier League despite finishing twenty-four points behind Leeds and Burnley. In rugby, we are facing a similar anomaly with Bristol having a chance of success despite finishing eighteen points behind Bath. Whatever happened to rewards for final league positions? 3G FAMILY QUIZ Last week’s answers – First generation: Wales. Second generation: Llanelli. Third generation: Wales and Scotland. Mastermind: Duhan van der Merwe and Finn Russell This week’s questions – First generation (1970-1999): Who scored a try in every match for Scotland in the last Five Nations tournament in 1999? Second generation ( 2000-2020): Which teams have never won the Wooden Spoon? Third generation ( 2020-2025): Who were the co-captains of the Scotland team in the 2025 Six Nations? Mastermind: Can you name Scotland’s top three try scorers in the correct order? DUBLIN BOUND All rugby roads lead to Dublin on Friday, June 20 for the British and Irish Lions’ encounter with Argentina. There has been a constant media bombardment for offers of hospitality packages at eye-watering prices. If you are looking for a match ticket, you can start at around £178. West Stand Middle - £499 per ticket. I wonder if there’s still a schoolboy’s gate for a shilling? GREAT LIONS MEMORIES It was always a great pleasure to spend a few hours in the company of the late Sandy Carmichael when we were out at Rugby Memories groups, and to hear first hand tales of his adventures with the Lions in New Zealand and South Africa. These tours resulted in life-long friendships being made and the tales often ended with his audience collapsing with uncontrolled laughter. He showed us a picture of a game against a provincial South African side where the entire local crowd, including police officers, cheered every Lions score as a protest against the Apartheid regime. One of the Welsh players went out onto the park and orchestrated a call and response with the crowd. Such an overtly political display would not have pleased the hosts, but it made for a memorable afternoon and certainly made a statement. Going on that tour was not an easy decision to make , but that afternoon certainly help remove any lingering doubts. MYSTERY PLAYER Who is this Scotland back? TRUE OR FALSE? The father of our Mystery Player won twelve caps for the Springboks?