Roy James Laidlaw (born 5 October 1953) is a former Scotland international rugby union player. Rugby Union career Amateur career Much of his domestic rugby was played with Jed-Forest RFC, who were in the Scottish Second Division at the time. Provincial career He played for the Scottish Borders club side. He was capped by South of Scotland District. International career Laidlaw came to prominence in the late 1970s due to a string of good performances for Scotland B, then managed by Jim Telfer. Although he was first capped against in 1980, he didn't become a regular until 1981. Amongst the highlights of his career, were his two tries in the Triple Crown decider in Dublin, and when he scored a long range solo try against . He was an international reserve for three seasons, before getting capped again in 1980. At the time, Dougie Morgan was holding down the scrum half position in the Scotland team, having displaced Alan Lawson. As Lawson refused to act as replacement, Laidlaw gained a place on the bench. When Morgan retired in 1979, the selectors brought back Lawson, with Laidlaw staying on the bench. Laidlaw continued his good form for Scotland B, and finally gained a place in the Scotland team in the 1980 season, having sat on the bench for 10 games without coming on as a replacement. Writing during Laidlaw's international career in the mid-1980s, Allan Massie said that: "Laidlaw's first quality is his courage. Only about 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighing 11 ½ stone, he never hesitates to absorb bad ball or to take on the enemy back row. I have never seen him shirk a tackle; he covers admirably and tirelessly... his game is not technically perfect. Though he often kicks admirably over his forwards' heads into the box, his kicking is not quite reliable and he can't really kick with his left foot. His pass, which has never been long, is faster than it was, but he is still inclined to skite the ball along the ground under pressure, and to take an indecisive step before passing. He depends a great deal on Rutherford to cover up these deficiencies; it was noticeable how his game went off in 1983 when Rutherford missed the first three championships." In 1983, he became captain of , and his style was described as being like "Gareth Edwards rather than Jacques Fouroux."