Rugby legends get behind Scottish meat

The three sportsmen, John Jeffrey, David Sole and Rob Wainwright, will back the £220,000 ‘Get behind the label’ campaign, which aims to improve consumers’ understanding of the quality, high welfare and traceability behind the three brands. It also aims to bring into the cities a sense of the livestock husbandry skills, tradition and heritage which are embodied by the three sportsmen, who are all livestock farmers and members of the Scottish quality assurance schemes.

The farmers, who will feature in the atmospheric billboard displays over the coming months, are a mixture of beef, pork and lamb producers from around Scotland, many of whom are from families who have been farming for many generations. The three rugby players will appear in a butchers’ shop campaign.

Jim McLaren, chairman of Quality Meat Scotland, said: “We are absolutely delighted John, Rob and David are supporting our ‘Get behind the label’ campaign.

“There is a real synergy between farming and rugby, particularly a sense of pride and determination to be undaunted by the elements. These three former Scotland international players show the same absolute conviction in their farming operations as they did on the pitch and their involvement in our campaign over the coming weeks – with rugby so high-profile – will substantially help to convey the many reasons our farmers take such pride in the quality of the beef, lamb and pork they produce.

“All three rugby legends are also proud members of our quality assurance schemes, which are among the best and most long-established in the world, giving consumers confidence in the high standards of welfare, quality and traceability behind our ‘Scotch’ brands.”

John Jeffrey, who won 40 caps for Scotland between 1984 and 1991 and played in two world cups, runs a sheep farm at Kersknowe in the Scottish Borders as a tenant on the Duke of Roxburgh’s estate, as well as farming more than 1,300 acres near Dunbar. He will be in New Zealand during the coming weeks in his current role as a Scotland representative on the International Rugby Board.
 
David Sole made his Scotland debut in 1986 against France and went on to win 44 caps at prop between 1986 and 1992, captaining the team a record 25 times. He now runs 120 Aberdeen Angus cows at the 1,200 acre Glenbuchat Estate in Aberdeenshire, having built his herd up from a foundation herd of 40 cows.

Former Scotland international player Rob Wainwright, who was capped 37 times, including 16 times as captain and once for the British Lions, completes the trio. A doctor by profession, he was commissioned into the Royal Army Medical Corps in 1987 and rose to the rank of Major in 1996. He now runs two farms on the Hebridean Isle of Coll, where he runs 60 suckler cows and 450 ewes, mostly Cheviots and Lleyns.

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