Rob Wainwright never took a backward step when he was tackling opponents on the rugby pitch and leading Scotland during his international career.
Yet, there was something remarkable about his decision to relocate to the island of Coll in the Inner Hebrides in 1999 to begin a new life in farming with his wife, Romayne.
If it had just been the duo, that would still have been a challenging proposition. But not only did the couple have four children, the youngest was only 10 days old when the Wainwrights arrived in Coll and spent their early days in a caravan.
There wasn’t a lot of glamour
It was, as Rob admitted, “a huge ask” and when we talked this week, 25 years after that giant stride into uncharted territory, he was lavish in his praise for Romayne – “she’s a very resilient lady, who bought into the dream”.
And neither has any regrets over swapping the big cities for a place where there is a huge sense of community spirit and people instinctively helping out their neighbours.
As he recalled: “I suppose it was a bit of a shock to many folk when we first moved up here, but we had been held back in the central belt by my rugby commitments and needing to be close to Glasgow and Edinburgh.
“We started with six cows and some sheep, and it was tough. The fences were all knackered, the house was semi-derelict, and we had zero knowledge when we got here.
It was well worth the challenge
“But we have never been afraid of hard work, we gradually built things up, and there are lots of pluses – the job is wonderful, Coll is wonderful, and the best advert is the fact we have four kids and three of them are back on the island and want to live here.
“Which isn’t to say there aren’t issues which are causing problems.”
One of the most obvious concerns is the dearth of affordable housing for young people. It’s all very well highlighting the beauty of Scotland’s islands, but they need hospitals, fire crews, teachers, health provision and that can’t all be left to an ageing population.
As a former medical doctor, Rob appreciates the issues. Yes, when the sun is shining at high summer and the sea is glistening, life can seen very close to heaven.
That isn’t always in the script
But what about the months when gales are howling, rain is lashing off the west coast, ferries are being cancelled, and emergency services are stretched to the limit?
He said: “Back in 1999, it was a real backwater and few wanted to live here, but that has changed and property prices have gone through the roof.
“That has obviously has an impact, because it’s much harder for youngsters to get on to the property ladder and we are losing a lot of youth who can’t afford to buy houses.
“I know we’re not alone in this and other islands are facing the same problems. But while Coll has a tremendous team spirit, the community has a huge hole in it.
Will they ever come back?
“Basically, many of the 20 to 40-year-olds are having to leave to find work and look for a mortgage and you do wonder, once they’ve gone, if they’ll ever come back.
“I’m in my 50s now and I consider myself to be blessed, but I know others who haven’t been so fortunate and that’s one of the reasons why I keep working as hard as I can.”
Which brings us to Doddie Weir.
It’s not overstating the case to declare that Rob loved his former team mate, the big Borderer, whose death at 52 from motor neurone disease in 2022, sparked a rarely-witnessed outpouring of emotion from every corner of the globe.
When Doddie was diagnosed with MND and created a foundation to raise funds to search for a cure, Rob was among the first people to rally to the righteous cause.
He poured himself into fundraising
There were an incessant amount of events, dinners, charity bike rides, diaries, everything under the sun and millions of pounds were amassed in the process, with Doddie an indefatigable presence – or at least until the light in his eyes faded away.
One was reminded of his speech at the P&J Live in 2019 after receiving the Helen Rollason Award from Princess Anne at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year night.
In words which would have brought tears to a glass eye, Doddie joked: “This is the closest that I’ve ever got to a trophy, so it’s nice.
“Sport has taught me to enjoy myself, because you just don’t know what’s next.”
And, even as Rob was cycling from Cardiff to Edinburgh to deliver the match ball before a Six Nations Championship contest between Scotland and Wales, he recalled the irrepressible drive of his confrere whom Bill McLaren once described as “a mad giraffe”.
He told me: “It’s still difficult to make sense of it, even now, because Doddie was such a character, he was so ALIVE in everything he did and it was infectious.
“There might be times in matches where we were struggling, but he was always optimistic, always urging us on, and he put in a wonderful shift for Scotland.
People thought the world of him
“When he was told that he had MND, he just seized the day and he kept fighting on and on for as long as he possibly could. It was inspiring.
“It was great to be able to help a friend and take part in these charity events, even though he knew it wasn’t going to help him. And that hasn’t stopped.
“Hopefully, we can keep making progress and eventually reach the stage where it isn’t a death sentence any longer.”
Given his incessant schedule on Coll, Rob doesn’t have much time these days to follow club rugby, though he has helped out with various organisations on different islands.
He was recently visited by Dougie Vipond – another man who pedalled to the metal on Doddie’s behalf – as the pair discussed his agricultural lifestyle for the Landward programme which will be broadcast on BBC Scotland next week.
Things worked out fine for us
He said: “When you’re on an island, you soon learn how to multi-task and you know that others are there. There’s a common purpose in pulling together.
“But it never stops. I’m running a business and looking after my family and there is never a time when you sit down and think: ‘I’ve nothing to do’. Maybe in the future….”
He didn’t need to finish the sentence. When it comes to dealing with conversions, getting over the gain line and stopping obstacles in their tracks, Rob’s sporting pedigree is ideal in the farming sphere.
So too, his appreciation for the cycle of life, even as he does his utmost in the charity stakes to continue to honour a mate who is no longer with us.
Landward is on Thursday November 7 at 8.30pm on the BBC Scotland channel and the following day at 7.30pm on BBC1.
Conversation