Rugby
Armstrong Home and Away
14 August 2007
Friday night promises to be an emotional one for Gary Armstrong as the two rugby loves of his life, Newcastle Falcons and Jedforest, do battle in a pre-season friendly just over the Scottish border.
Armstrong, a legend of Falcons and Scottish rugby, has described the match as “a massive night for the town of Jedburgh”, having outlined his enormous affection for both clubs.
Now on the coaching staff of Jedforest, the nuggety scrum half spearheaded the Falcons’ drive to the Premiership title back in 1998 with his 15 tries in 32 games, in a glittering career which also saw 51 Scotland caps, 21 international tries and a place on the 1989 Lions tour.
Inked in by Newcastle fans as the first name in any all-time Falcons dream team, Armstrong still has huge affection for the Kingston Park outfit, although he admits it will be his hometown team of Jedforest that will be utmost in his thoughts come Friday evening.
“I’ve lived in Jedburgh all my life, even when I was playing for the Falcons, and the driving down to training every day over the border didn’t bother me at all,” he says, speaking on the hands-free from the cab of his truck en-route to Leith docks in Edinburgh.
“I suppose being a lorry driver those one-hour trips down to Newcastle were a drop in the ocean, and I’m now fortunate enough to own a haulage business which has three trucks on the road right now. In the last few days I’ve been putting in 14 or 15 hour shifts, but that’s the life I’ve chosen and that’s what I know.”
Armstrong’s brother Kevin is the current head coach of the Jedforest side, with Gary taking the backs in a coaching and management team which also includes Callum Brown.
“It’s a big thing for us to be playing the Falcons, especially with the young squad we have at the moment,” says Gary, with names to watch out for in the Jed squad including the likes of Ross Goodfellow, centre Robert Hogg and prop Gary Holborn.
“It will give us an idea of how far up the ladder we are in terms of our own development. We don’t often get to play against professional outfits, and even though it will be a Falcons Development Team on the night we still expect a lot of quality from the Newcastle side because they have such a depth of good players.”
Speaking on the pride Armstrong will take from seeing his two beloved sides do battle, he said: “It’s a big night from a personal point of view, because I have so much affection for both the teams involved.
“I’m back up at my hometown team now, but Newcastle is always the first score I look out for and I still keep in touch with people down there like Peter Walton and the rest just to find out how things are going.
“The big thing on Friday will be for the town of Jedburgh itself, because the club is making a big thing of it being a family night with free entry and loads of entertainment for the kids. I’m sure the Newcastle supporters will come up in their numbers, and I look forward to seeing each and every one of them because that is my main memory of Newcastle, the friendliness of all the fans and the people in the city.”
Casting his eye down to Kingston Park with the bigger picture of the Guinness Premiership in mind, Armstrong is full of praise at the efforts being made to drive the club on to the next level.
“You have to applaud what they’ve done down there, you really do,” says the man who made 155 competitive Falcons appearances, scoring 68 tries.
“The ambition that the club continues to show is fantastic, firstly by bringing through so many young players and then secondly going out and getting top quality names like Carl Hayman and Matt Burke to play alongside them and add their experience.
“The chairman and the coaches deserve a huge amount of credit for what they are building at the moment. These young guys have all burst on to the scene, but they are a year older and a year stronger now. The amount of talent there is amazing, and I strongly believe they will be up there challenging.”
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