SRU dec 2016 (1)

If rugby is your sport of choice you will know exactly who Al Kellock is—no introduction necessary. But just in case, Kellock is a former rugby union player who played lock for Scotland and Glasgow Warriors. He first played for Scotland in 2004, and became captain of the Warriors in 2006 where he stayed for 9 years. At an impressive 6 ft 8 inches we are pretty sure he ate all his vegetables as a child!

1. Tell us about your background in rugby and your role as an SRU Ambassador?

I started playing rugby at 5 and was privileged enough to play professionally for 13 years—4 with Edinburgh and 9 with Glasgow. 2. What is your proudest moment in your rugby career? My proudest moment has to be lifting the Pro12 cup in my last ever game as a professional player! 3. A few years ago you captained the Barbarians; how did that compare to captaining Scotland? Very different! Captaining Scotland was, until my last game, the biggest honour I had in rugby. Walking out to a packed BT Murrayfield is incredible. The Barbarians week was up there with the best fun I had in rugby—it was very relaxed but always with the edge of rugby at the top level. To be asked to captain them was special. [caption id="attachment_3156" align="aligncenter" width="840"]SRU dec 2016 (4) Kellock (right) with rugby ambassador and coach, Chris Paterson on a visit to the Isles.[/caption] 4. Can you talk us through your pre game ritual? I had my Spaghetti Bolognaise 3 hours before every game—even if that meant 9.30 in the morning.  Other than that I tried to stay relaxed but focused. 5. Given you spend a lot of time in training gear how are you enjoying wearing your Harris Tweed Scottish rugby jacket? I love my jacket. It fits in very well with me having to swap my training gear for grown up clothes! 6. If you were choosing the playlist for a session at the gym, what sort of tunes would you choose? A very varied mix… and probably one that only I would enjoy! 7. Do you have a favourite garment you’d like to see made in tweed? At 6’8 the hardest thing to find is trousers to fit. Perhaps I need to look into the full tweed suit first. (we think the SRU Harris tweed in a three piece would look cracking on you, Mr Kellock) 8. What is your favourite Scottish word? When I played at Glasgow my word was “Laoch” which is Gaelic for Warrior.