PHIL O’Callaghan’s ascension towards the scrum machine in the sky leaves the old game mourning the loss of a tight-head ever ready to raise the tone of front row repartee.
‘Philo’ never laid claim to being the best prop in the old grunt-‘n’-groan malarkey but he was second to none when it came to flooring troublesome loose-heads with a bit of badinage designed to lighten the mood. Nobody would have vouched for that more readily than the late Iain McLauchlan.
As the retreating Scotland pack collapsed in a heap at Lansdowne Road during the 1976...