Scott Hastings dies on day of late wife’s birthday after disappearance | Rugby | Sport
Scott Hastings pictured with his late wife Jenny Hastings (Image: SWNS)
A rugby icon’s heartbreaking death took place on what would have been his late wife’s birthday, just two years after her tragic disappearance. Scott Hastings, 61, died after a battle with cancer. The Scottish sporting hero, who held the record as his nation’s most capped centre, had undergone treatment for Non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
His death represents another heartbreaking chapter for the family, with Hastings’s wife, Jenny, going missing while swimming at Wardle Bay in Edinburgh back in 2024. This followed a two-decade battle with mental health issues. A statement from the Scotsman’s family regarding his passing, issued through Scottish Rugby, said: “Corey and Kerry-Anne Hastings are saddened to inform you that Scott, the Scotland and British and Irish Lions centre, passed away peacefully surrounded by family on the morning of Sunday 17 May.
“This also marked his late wife Jenny’s birthday which speaks louder than words that he is safe and with his beloved Jenny. Scott was undergoing cancer treatment and due to complications deteriorated extremely quickly.
“Despite every effort by the incredible team at the Western General Hospital ICU, he passed away peacefully and pain free. At this time the family ask everyone to give them space to process and manage their energies and ask for their privacy to be respected.”
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Jenny’s body was found on the couple’s wedding anniversary – September 7, 2024. A statement at the time from the mother-of-two’s family said: “As many of you know Jenny struggled with her mental health for a number of years and ultimately she was unable to cope on this occasion.
“She swam out into the Firth of Forth from Wardie Bay in Edinburgh, and it appears that she wished to end her suffering in what was a regular and healing place for her. She loved the water but unfortunately her mind was not in a place of safety. The Hastings family are absolutely heartbroken.”
Jenny had previously spoken about her ongoing battle with severe depression and attempts to take her own life. She was classed as a “high risk missing person” at the time she went missing.
Jenny Hastings went missing in 2024 after ongoing struggles with her mental health (Image: PA)
Speaking about his wife at the time, Scott said: “When she was well, she was radiant and beautiful and outgoing. But to see somebody suffer poor mental health was a challenge.”
He added: “I miss Jenny every day. She had this amazing connection with people and probably concentrated on other people’s health rather than her own mental health.”
A statement from Scottish Rugby said: “Scott Hastings won 65 caps for Scotland over 11 years (a record at that time), represented the British and Irish Lions on 12 occasions on two tours and played 13 games for the Barbarians.
“A proud Watsonian, he also wore the Edinburgh jersey with such distinction. He remains the most-capped Scotland male centre of all-time. But those stellar stats tell far from the whole story.”
Former Scotland and Lions head coach Sir Ian McGeechan paid tribute, saying: “My association with Scott and his brother Gavin was always special for me because we came into the Scotland set-up, myself as coach, and Scott and Gavin as players, at the same time. We came in together and we grew together.
“I remember Scott on the Lions tours taking an absolute lead. He was so single-minded and determined about winning. He was very much your right-hand man, given what he did on the field. I still remember the Grand Slam game against England in 1990. There was his Lions team-mate from the previous year, Jerry Guscott, in the England team, but Scott gave nothing away to him whatsoever. Whatever jersey Scott wore, he just made it better.”
The rugby star’s former team-mate and Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend added: “In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Scott was an iconic figure for Scottish rugby.
“His defensive display in the 1990 Grand Slam victory over England was crucial to that day’s success and he epitomised what it meant to play for Scotland – combining passion, confidence and aggression, whenever he wore the navy blue jersey.”
Scott was inducted into the Scottish Rugby Hall of Fame last October. As a mark of respect, the flag will fly at half-mast at Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium in his honour.
