Jack, my son, treated us to breakfast yesterday at our favourite Diner, the Regency, in Regency Street which is just round the corner from my house. The "Us" was Dugald and Marguerite Macdonald with whom Jack had stayed during the summer in Cape Town.
Dugald was in our squad when the Penguins RFC was invited in August, 1977 to the USSR to play in the Eastern European Cup alongside Romania, Poland and Czechoslovakia. Dugald had played for Palma in Italy, gained a Blue at Oxford and played also for the Springboks. We became firm friends on the tour but he went back to travelling and we didn't meet again until 1995 at the Rugby World Cup but then only fleetingly.
Yesterday, we made up for the long absence and I met Marguerite, his Greek/Zimbabwean wife. She runs www.mavromac.co.za and was here on business. They also have a son at Oxford.
After breakfast Marguerite had to go to a series of meetings and so I spent two hours showing Dugald the Houses of Parliament. Jack meanwhile legged it back to Bath University. He was in fine form as on Tuesday, he had played fifteen minutes in the 1st XV against Cambridge University at Grange Road where they had walloped the 'Tabs 29-14.