Rob Flockhart

Rob Flockhart is a Scottish former rugby union player. He was the 127th president of the Scottish Rugby Union (SRU).

Rugby union career

Amateur career

Flockhart played for southwest Edinburgh club Boroughmuir. When opening the 2016 Melrose Sevens, as SRU president, he mentioned "happy memories of representing Boroughmuir in the tournament in the 1970s."

Coaching career

Flockhart coached the Scotland U21 side in 1998 and 1999.

Referee career

Flockhart has been a citing commissioner for Six Nations Championship matches.

He has acted as a citing commissioner for European Cup and Challenge Cup matches.

He has been a citing commissioner for the Pro12.

Administrative career

Flockhart became a vice-president of the Scottish Rugby Union in 2015, beating Ian Barr of Lasswade by four votes.

He then became the 127th president of the Scottish Rugby Union, serving the first two-year term in office from 2016 to 2018.

During Flockhart's presidency, the SRU received criticism for the way it handled the sacking of its Director of Rugby, Keith Russell (father of Scotland international Finn Russell) and for its introduction of 'Agenda 3', which created an Edinburgh-centric national professional league competition (the Super 6 had three of its six sides coming from the capital - and no sides from the cities of Glasgow, Aberdeen, Dundee or Inverness).

In his annual report address to the SRU delegates, Flockhart apologised for six weeks of events and stated "we will learn the lessons from the tribunal findings... in relation to our former director of domestic rugby Keith Russell... we will implement recommendations from the review undertaken by Lesley Thomson, Scotland's former solicitor general." Flockhart also acknowledged "the concern and uncertainty surrounding Agenda 3", defending it as "a response to a recognition by many of our clubs and those volunteers in them that change is needed if our game is to survive and flourish."