EDINBURGH, Scotland (AP) — Scott Hastings, the Scotland rugby great who played alongside his older brother Gavin for the national team and the British and Irish Lions, has died. He was 61.
The Scottish Rugby Union announced his death on Sunday. In 2022, Hastings said he had been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma and the SRU referenced a family statement that said he “deteriorated extremely quickly” due to complications with his treatment.
“He passed away peacefully and pain free,” the family statement read.
The most-capped center in the history of Scotland's men's team after making 65 appearances from 1986-97, Hastings was a member of the Grand Slam-winning team in the 1990 Five Nations and scored 10 tries for his country.
He and Gavin, who was three years his elder, made their first Scotland starts together in the 1986 Five Nations in a win against France. The teams shared that title.
Both were picked for the 1989 Lions tour of Australia. The Wallabies won the first test comfortably and, thanks to a midweek comeback win over ACT, Scott was brought into the centers along with Jeremy Guscott among five changes for the second test. Scott and Gavin were the first Lions test brothers since 1910.
In what became known as the Battle of Ballymore, the Lions stood up to Australia but trailed 12-9 with five minutes to go.
“We got a break out ... and I realized there was a huge gap on the outside,” Scott told the Lions website. "Being a left-handed player I thought I could fire this pass out but it was more like a big loop that bounced and my brother Gavin went over and scored.
“As he ran back he said, ‘That was fantastic, what’s the score?' and he hadn't realized he'd put the Lions into the lead.”
The Lions prevailed to set up a series decider in Sydney, where they won again 19-18 and became the first Lions to win a series from 1-0 down.
"I pulled off a tackle in midfield against David Campese that I really enjoyed but when that final whistle went, (it was) that sheer joy of winning a test series,” Scott said.
He also went to New Zealand in 1993 but his Lions tour was cut short before the tests when he broke his cheekbone on Josh Kronfeld's knee.
“I couldn't even close my mouth so I knew my tour was over and I was gutted, it was devastating,” Scott said.
Former Scotland and Lions coach Ian McGeechan told the Scottish Rugby website: "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 teammate 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.”
He played his last test for Scotland in 1997 with current national coach Gregor Townsend.
“Like many other schoolboys throughout Scotland at the time, I wanted to emulate Scott's approach to the game and how he took the game to the opposition,” Townsend told Scottish Rugby.
"A few years later I was fortunate to play alongside him on a number of occasions for Scotland, as he became our most-capped player.
"His influence on his teammates was still very strong towards the end of his career as he helped us come very close to winning another Grand Slam game against England at Murrayfield in 1996.
“Scott always brought positivity and energy into everything he did from his playing career then into the past couple of decades as a widely traveled and respected commentator.”
AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
FILE - Scotland's Scott Hastings (left), makes a break but is caught by the England defense, during the Five Nations Rugby international match between Scotland and England at Edinburgh's Murrayfield Stadium, in Edenburgh on Saturday March 2, 1996. (Rebecca Naden,File, PA via AP)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Thousands of people streamed onto the National Mall for a daylong prayer rally Sunday billed as a “rededication of our country as One Nation under God.”
Against the backdrop of the Washington Monument, worship music blared from a stage that made clear the event’s Christian focus. Arched stained-glass windows, set underneath grand columns resembling a federal building, depicted the nation’s founders alongside a white cross.
Most speakers celebrated Christianity’s ties to American history, a blending of ideas that critics flagged ahead of the prayer gathering as supporting Christian nationalism.
President Donald Trump read a passage of Scripture in a video shown at the rally. Filmed in the Oval Office, it was the same footage used during a marathon Bible-reading event last month. The verses from 2 Chronicles are often cited by those who believe America was founded as a Christian nation.
“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways,” Trump read, “then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
Other top Republicans, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., were also on the schedule as part of the celebrations this year marking 250 years of U.S. independence.
Only one name on the Rededicate 250 program was not Christian. Most were among Trump’s longtime evangelical supporters, including Paula White-Cain of the White House Faith Office and evangelist Franklin Graham of Samaritan’s Purse.
“We are deeply concerned that what is really being rededicated is a nation to a very narrow and ideological part of the Christian faith that betrays our nation’s fundamental commitment to religious freedom,” said the Rev. Adam Russell Taylor, a Baptist minister who leads the progressive Christian organization Sojourners.
The conservative Christian lineup featured guests who often argue that the United States was founded as a Christian nation, a narrative disputed by many historians and other religious traditions.
Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner, director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, noted the religious diversity of early America, including Jews, Muslims and Indigenous people. “I want to shine a light on America’s history as a nation that welcomes, celebrates, and protects people of all faiths and those of no faith,” Pesner said.
Many in the crowd wore Trump hats and patriotic colors, joining the festivities under a sweltering sun.
“It’s all about Jesus,” said Denny Smith, 72, of Rhode Island, who rented a motorized scooter to traverse the National Mall.
Retha Bond, 58 and from southern Illinois, also heard Trump speak not far away on Jan. 6, 2021. She said she did not join the protesters who rioted later that day at the Capitol but has remained a steadfast Trump supporter.
“I’m not saying Trump is the savior,” Bond said. She added that "this is one of the most important things that could be going on in the world, for us to rededicate our nation back to God.”
At least one event speaker mentioned the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk from the stage. Kirk's activism has been a powerful example for Alessandra Seawright, 15, of Santa Fe, New Mexico, who came to Rededicate 250 with her mother.
“I think we just need more of this in our country, and we just need to share the word of the Lord,” she said. “We love going to events like this.”
They also attended Kirk’s memorial service, which mixed Christian worship and political messages. Events like these, Seawright said, help her feel less alone in her conservative Christian beliefs.
Hegseth, who has infused Christian language and worship with his role leading the Pentagon, asked the gathering in a video to pray to “our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” Referencing George Washington’s faith, he said, “Let us pray without ceasing. Let us pray for our nation on bended knee.”
Orthodox Jewish Rabbi Meir Soloveichik was the only non-Christian religious leader listed on the program. To applause, he told the crowd, “Antisemitism is utterly un-American” — a seeming reference to debates dividing the right.
Soloveichik serves on the Trump administration’s Religious Liberty Commission along with White-Cain, Graham and Cardinal Timothy Dolan and Bishop Robert Barron, Catholic clerics also featured on the program.
The event was organized by Freedom 250, a public-private partnership backed by the White House. Congressional Democrats have questioned the nonprofit’s structure and finances, which they see as a Trump-controlled end run around a separate commission charted by Congress a decade ago to prepare semiquincentennial events.
Progressive groups staged counterprogramming. Among them were the Freedom From Religion Foundation, which advocates a strict separation of church and state, and the Christian organization Faithful America. The two groups displayed a large balloon near the mall of a Trump-like golden calf, in a biblical reference to idolatry.
On Thursday evening, the Interfaith Alliance projected protest slogans onto an exterior wall of the National Gallery of Art. “Democracy not theocracy,” said one. Another said: “The separation of church and state is good for both.”
Associated Press writer Peter Smith in Pittsburgh contributed to this report.
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
A visually impaired person feels QAnon patches on the outfit of Micki Larson-Olson, who was convicted on a misdemeanor charge for her actions on January 6, 2021, when supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol, during Rededicate 250, a mostly conservative Christian prayer gathering in honor of the United States' 250th anniversary, on the National Mall, Sunday, May 17, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
A person worships to Christian music at Rededicate 250, a mostly conservative Christian prayer gathering in honor of the United States' 250th anniversary, on the National Mall, Sunday, May 17, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Dorothea and Billy Ohlandt, from North Carolina, arrive at Rededicate 250, a mostly conservative Christian prayer gathering in honor of the United States' 250th anniversary, on the National Mall, Sunday, May 17, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
The stage is seen ahead of Rededicate 250, a mostly conservative Christian prayer gathering in honor of the United States' 250th anniversary, on the National Mall, Sunday, May 17, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
People worship to Christian music at Rededicate 250, a mostly conservative Christian prayer gathering in honor of the United States' 250th anniversary, on the National Mall, Sunday, May 17, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
People worship to Christian music at Rededicate 250, a mostly conservative Christian prayer gathering in honor of the United States' 250th anniversary, on the National Mall, Sunday, May 17, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
People worship to Christian music at Rededicate 250, a mostly conservative Christian prayer gathering in honor of the United States' 250th anniversary, on the National Mall, Sunday, May 17, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Secretary of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, of La., Secretary of State Marco Rubio Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C. Chief of Protocol of the United States Ambassador Monica Crowley Dr. Ben Carson, Founder and Chairman of the American Cornerstone Institute Major General Patrick Brady, USA (Ret.) Medal of Honor Recipient and retired United States Army Major General President of Hillsdale College Dr. Larry Arnn speaks during the Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee Of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving, Sunday, May 17, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
A guest attends the Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee Of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving, Sunday, May 17, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
Dorothea Ohlandt, from North Carolina, arrives at Rededicate 250, a mostly conservative Christian prayer gathering in honor of the United States' 250th anniversary, on the National Mall, Sunday, May 17, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
A person prays during Rededicate 250, a mostly conservative Christian prayer gathering in honor of the United States' 250th anniversary, on the National Mall, Sunday, May 17, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
A guest attends the Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee Of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving, Sunday, May 17, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
Guest attend the Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee Of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving, Sunday, May 17, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
A guest attends the Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee Of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving, Sunday, May 17, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
A guest attends the Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee Of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving, Sunday, May 17, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
A guest attends the Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee Of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving, Sunday, May 17, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
A guest dressed as Abraham Lincoln attends the Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee Of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving, Sunday, May 17, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
