It is one of the most unwanted records in the whole of international sport; the fact that Scotland’s rugby team hasn’t beaten England at Twickenham since 1983.
The last time they managed it, Margaret Thatcher was in Downing Street, Michael Jackson stood at the summit of the British charts with “Billie Jean”, petrol cost 36.7p a litre, a pint of milk was just 21p, and the first pound coin had yet to be minted.
And it would be another two months before Aberdeen’s footballers triumphed in the European Cup-Winners Cup with their famous 2-1 success over Real Madrid.
John Beattie was part of that side who swept to a 22-12 victory in London, with tries from Roy Laidlaw and Tom Smith, and the former Scotland and Lions star-turned-broadcaster admits he feels “embarrassment” that so much time has passed and so many of his compatriots have been sent homewards from Twickers to think again.
There’s no logical reason why the slough of despond should have lasted so long. After all, Scotland prevailed over their rivals at Murrayfield in 1984, 1986, 1990, 2000, 2006, 2008 and they savoured a 25-13 win as recently as last winter.
But there is no doubt the trip to Twickenham has cast a pall over the SRU’s finest for decades and it’s a jinx they will need to overcome in this season’s Six Nations Championship when the combatants square up on March 16.
Looking back to 1983, Beattie told the Press and Journal: “We had a group of really world-class players and we had missed out by narrow margins elsewhere in the championship, so we were determined to show our qualities.
“To be honest, it was a pretty bad England team, and we could have won by a greater margin. They were off the pace, we had guys like John Rutherford and Roy Laidlaw, The Bear [ferocious prop, Iain Milne], Colin Deans, Iain Paxton, Keith Robertson….a lot of whom went on to earn Lions selection that summer, and we had nothing to fear from them. The club boys from Hawick and Heriots were used to winning every Saturday and they just went out and pretty much blew away their opponents.
“It meant that England got the wooden spoon and that eventually led to the creation of the charity, The Wooden Spoon Society. With hindsight, it was the start of a golden period for the Scots with two Grand Slams in the next seven years.
“But it is about time some of the new generation were talking about beating England rather than me. It is actually a bit of an embarrassment the TV people are still showing pictures from 1983, before any of the current lads were even born.”
In his pomp, Beattie was a formidable competitor, somebody who would have bullocked through a barn door if Jim Telfer had ordered it. But, as he explained, there was always something disconcerting about playing at Twickenham, compared to the rest of the Five Nations venues in the 1980s.
He said: “It was out of town, in the suburbs, so it felt a bit alien, a bit otherwordly and you were going into the heartland of English rugby, so it could be off-putting. The other grounds, such as the old Parc des Princes and the Arms Park in Cardiff were in the city centres and there was a real buzz about them. But it was different at Twickenham.
“Matters have changed now with professionalism in rugby. But we conceded more than 60 points against England two years ago, then beat them 12 months later. So things clearly haven’t changed that much!”
Beattie recognises 2019 will be a tough campaign for the Scots, with away trips to Paris and London. realistically, he thinks they should target Italy and Ireland in their first two matches.
As he said: “If we beat the Irish at home, it will be a good season.”
Even before the journey to darkest Richmond!