Iain Angus McLeod Paxton (born 29 December 1957) is a Scottish

Scotland national rugby union team

The Scotland national rugby union team represent Scotland in international rugby union. Rugby union in Scotland is administered by the Scottish Rugby Union. The Scotland rugby union team is currently ranked eighth in the IRB World Rankings as of 19 September 2011...

 rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 player who won 36 caps at number eight and lock between 1981 and 1988, scoring a total of five tries

Try

A try is the major way of scoring points in rugby league and rugby union football. A try is scored by grounding the ball in the opposition's in-goal area...

. He made his debut against New Zealand All Blacks

All Blacks

The New Zealand men's national rugby union team, known as the All Blacks, represent New Zealand in what is regarded as its national sport....

 on the 1981 tour and later that year he helped Scotland to a memorable 24-15 win over Australia

Australia national rugby union team

The Australian national rugby union team is the representative side of Australia in rugby union. The national team is nicknamed the Wallabies and competes annually with New Zealand and South Africa in the Tri-Nations Series, in which they also contest the Bledisloe Cup with New Zealand and the...

 at Murrayfield

Murrayfield Stadium

Murrayfield Stadium is a sports stadium located in the west end of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Its all-seater capacity was recently reduced from 67,800 to 67,130 to incorporate the largest permanent "big screen" in the country though it still remains the largest stadium in Scotland and one...

. He was also a key figure in Scotland’s 1984 Grand Slam winning side, playing in all matches, relegating Jock Beattie to the bench. When he finished his career in 1988, Paxton was Scotland's most capped No. 8 with 36 caps.

Richard Bath writes of him that:

"Against Wales

Wales national rugby union team

The Wales national rugby union team represent Wales in international rugby union tournaments. They compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland, Italy and Scotland. Wales have won the Six Nations and its predecessors 24 times outright, second only to England with...

 in particular, Paxton was in superb form, scoring one of the greatest tries ever scored at Cardiff Arms Park

Cardiff Arms Park

Cardiff Arms Park , also known as The Arms Park, is primarily known as a rugby union stadium, but it also has a bowling green, and is situated in the centre of Cardiff, Wales. The Arms Park was host to the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1958, and hosted four games in the 1991 Rugby World...

 as Scotland beat Wales at home for the first time since 1962."

He began his coaching career at Glenrothes rugby team but for the past six years Paxton has coached Boroughmuir

Boroughmuir RFC

Boroughmuir RFC is a rugby union football club in the Scottish Rugby Union. Founded in 1919 and admitted to the SRU in 1939, it was originally restricted to former pupils of Boroughmuir High School. The badge is derived from Boroughmuir High School and they acquired it in 1913. Although it has lost...

, during which time the Meggetland outfit have lifted the SRU Cup twice (2000 and 2001) and taken the league title once (2002-03 season). Paxton joined the under-21 coaching team last season, assisting former head coach Jonno Phillips.

External links

• Paxton's passion can see Scots second string become future force - The Scotsman, March 6, 2005