'Very astute': Allan Massie gets glowing Gregor Townsend tribute - and rugby book that never came to pass

The Scotland coach has long valued the writer’s insights and rugby knowledge, going back to Townsend’s playing days.

The bond between the pair was forged by their passion for the sport but also other shared interests, notably history, their love of the Borders and the fact that both men are committed Francophiles.

But there was poignancy to this latest missive. As Allan revealed on these pages last week in a moving interview with The Scotsman’s former books editor David Robinson, he is suffering from “wretched cancer”.

After reviewing literally thousands of books for this title across 50 years, he has stepped down from his role as The Scotsman’s chief literary critic.

A hole has been left in the paper; two holes, in fact. Because the forthcoming Six Nations Championship will be the first in over three decades where The Scotsman’s coverage does not feature Allan’s erudite thoughts.

His column was a Saturday morning staple on the back page, a must-read for rugby enthusiasts, Townsend included.

“He's very astute on his rugby,” Townsend told The Scotsman. “When I was coaching at Glasgow, he used to love the way Glasgow played, and there were players he knew that made the team function well, and he has a real rugby eye. He didn't just tend to go for the big-name players. He loved scrum-halves who played at tempo, and he's obviously a big fan of Scotland.

“I remember seeing him pre-match, at the back pitches at Murrayfield, when all the cars used to be parked there before international matches, and I used to look forward to seeing his messages and his thoughts on the team. Because it was like conversing with a real person of rugby knowledge, almost like another coach, who was wanting the best for Scotland.

“He reminds me a lot of another Scotsman legend, Norman Mair. Like Allan, Norman was someone who was so interested in the game within the historical context. I had a connection with him too, but obviously Allan's been around over a longer period of my career, and through my time coaching.

“And just to be able to read his novels too, and get to know the author as well as a rugby supporter was great.”

How Townsend and Massie first met

They first connected at the mid-point of Townsend’s playing career when, in Townsend’s words, Massie went from being a critic to a supporter. Townsend, a teenage prodigy with occasionally maverick tendencies, had developed into a world-class 10.

“I think he sent me a message, probably mid-career, saying that he was more of a critic of my game and then he became a real supporter, and I felt it was great that he’d got in touch about that, and also just how much of a supporter he was after that.

“And then we struck up a relationship when, near the end of my career, just before I started coaching. I was enjoying his other career, reading his books. I was into history, into France, and we obviously had a connection with me playing in France and also being a bit of a Francophile.”

Many of Massie’s novels are set in France, notably his Vichy trilogy and, more recently, his Bordeaux quartet. His non-fiction works include A Portrait of Scottish Rugby, published in 1984, and it’s his ability to apply historical perspective to his rugby analysis that Townsend values.

“He would often send me his columns, as a sort of heads up. ‘This is what I'm writing.’ I'd maybe give him a bit of insight into what we were thinking of doing, or players that we were loving watching.

“Often it was really aligned, because he had an excellent rugby brain, and he obviously watched a lot of rugby. He would be watching Glasgow and Edinburgh, going down to Selkirk, and watching other teams as well.”

Philiphaugh is on his doorstep and Selkirk remain a team dear to him. John Rutherford, the prince of Scotland stand-offs, was their greatest player and Massie has often in his columns bracketed Rutherford, Townsend and Finn Russell together as the greatest 10s to have represented Scotland in his time.

“It's obviously great to be in his thoughts,” said Townsend. “He is very fond of John Rutherford and his club team, Selkirk, but also Borders rugby, and Scottish rugby. He really wants Scotland to do well, and he's got a historical perspective on when Scotland have done well and not done so well over the last 40 or 50 years.”

When it came to writing his own book, Townsend, not surprisingly, sought the writer’s advice and Talk of the Toony, the memoir of his playing career, carries an acknowledgement to Massie.

“I visited him a few times at his house during my playing career, and then a lot more when I was writing my book. I'd go for a coffee with him.

“James Crawford was my literary agent at the time, and he was a big help in terms of the structure of the book and giving me feedback, and Allan was likewise. He's a brilliant author, a book reviewer, someone that was a Borderer and interested in rugby.

“It was great just to send him a few chapters and get his views on it. It took a long while writing that book, but I'm glad I had someone like Allan to bounce ideas off. There are two or three chapters about playing in France, and I loved the history of French rugby, and how unique it was, and having conversations with Allan about that. He loves France in general, and the culture, but also the rugby culture.”

The book that never came to pass

Townsend reveals that a rugby collaboration was planned which, sadly, has never quite materialised.

“I don't know if you know this, but we were supposed to write a book together," he said. "We were both lovers of the history of the game, so I had an idea of writing a chapter about how the game evolved in different countries.

“I find it fascinating how it started in France, in Scotland, in the Borders, and even in a country like America where it started with rugby, and then became American football. He was really keen too, but said, 'how about we write it on how the game has evolved?' For example, how certain positions have emerged, like the full-backs of the 1960s and 70s. Ken Scotland and Andy Irvine changed the game because they became running full-backs.

“I was to focus more on the game in the professional era, he was going to focus on how it evolved, and we'd bounce ideas off each other. So we started a couple of chapters, and had loads of notes. He'd got the publishers to agree that we'd write in about a year or two's time.

“Both of us got very busy. I got really busy with coaching. It was always in the back of my mind, but I just never had the time to do it. He was so busy too that he just said, ‘don't worry about it, if there's a time when we can do it, we will’. So maybe in the future. I really love the topic, how the game and the players and the positions have evolved and how it continues to evolve.

“I know he loves where the game is today. He isn't nostalgic for an era that doesn't exist any more. The game has obviously changed hugely, but there's so much skill and attack, and so many positives about the game today.

“He really loved watching Scotland back in the 50s and 60s, I'd imagine, but he's certainly loved watching Scottish teams of more recent vintage and how they play.

“But we're all thinking of him and his contributions to rugby. His knowledge of the game is still there and I'm sure the wider rugby community are all wishing the very best for him and his family.”