It has become one of the indelible images in Scottish sporting history; the sight of David Michael Barclay Sole leading his Scotland players into battle before they beat England and won rugby’s 1990 Five Nations Grand Slam at Murrayfield.
It is nearly 30 years since Sole and his colleagues engaged in a famous slow gladiatorial march as the prelude to pummelling England’s hopes into the turf.
But the man himself has not changed much. He still loves his rugby but he also has a genuine passion for cricket, the pursuit in which two of his sons, Chris and Tom, are excelling, both at county level and with their country.
He still remembers fondly weekends spent at Crathie, where he and his family enjoyed the rustic charms of the game at the grassroots during their trips to the north-east.
As the former rugby Test prop recalled: “The boys played for Crathie when we were in Aberdeenshire at the family home over the summer holidays, while they were in their teens.
“They were a great bunch of folk at the club and we used to enjoy our trips there. Village cricket is a precious part of the game.”
It is obvious sport is in the family’s DNA, because his daughter, Gemma, represented Scotland at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in netball and his other son, Jamie, is no mean rugby player on the domestic club circuit.
Sole added: “I grew up playing cricket, and I’ve always been interested in it, whether at school or at university, and it has been terrific to watch Scotland’s progress in the last few years.
“It is obviously a different challenge from rugby, which has much more physicality, and a focus on set-pieces, but I have always liked the tactical aspect of cricket.
“I never had any input into what the kids decided to play other than doing what I could to get them interested in sport and exercise. But it is heartening to see them come through the ranks and they keep pushing themselves.”
Scotland’s cricketers face the English at the Grange in three weeks and Sole was impressed with how Kyle Coetzer’s personnel performed at the World Cup qualifying tournament in Zimbabwe this year.
The challenge ultimately finished in controversy and last-gasp heartbreak but it demonstrated the Scots could shine at the highest level. Sole said: “I used to love the really big matches – the grand slam, the World Cup semi-final (in 1991), the ones that really matter.
“It’s all about doing your best and not leaving anything ‘undone’ or having any ‘I wish I had done x or y’ moments back in the dressing-room.
“Whatever the result, if you have done your best, no one can complain and you can be proud. I felt that way about the boys in Zimbabwe.”
He will be in Edinburgh again next month as another clash of the Auld Enemies looms.
The chances are at least one Sole brother will be in action on the field.
