Colin Thomas Deans MBE (born 3 May 1955) is a former Scotland international rugby union player.
And honestly, popping off to bed aged nine knowing that the next morning it would be my time to be coached by Mr McLaren was even more exciting than Christmas Eve.
Richard Bath writes of him that he was:[3] The prototype for the faster hooker, acting as an extra flanker that has since emerged, Deans has few equals.
Superb in the loose and a wonderfully quick striker of the ball in the scrum, the rugged Deans was also a pinpoint line-out thrower.
[5] The Rugby World magazine gave this summary of Deans:[6] Standing 5ft 10in tall, but light in stature by current standards, Deans was the first of a new breed of mobile hookers who played like an extra back-rower – although he was still famed for his brilliant lineout throwing and his swift striking at scrum time.
There can have been few, if any, faster; indeed, his speed is such that from the broken play and the line-out he gives Scotland in effect a fourth back-row forward.
This means that, like Carmichael, he is ideal for the modern game, capable of fulfilling his specialist role, but also of taking a full part in fifteen-man Rugby.
[9] Deans was selected for the 1983 British Lions tour to New Zealand, but despite playing well was surprisingly kept on the bench for the entirety of the 4 test matches.
Note 9: Michael Owen captained the Lions in the first tour game, the test vs. Argentina in Cardiff.