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Scotland great Scott Hastings reveals cancer diagnosis

By Kim Ekin
Scott Hastings and brother Gavin Hastings attend the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards at The Hydro on December 14, 2014 (Photo by Karwai Tang/WireImage)

Scotland great Scott Hastings has revealed that he has been diagnosed with cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy treatment for the illness.

The former Scotland centre revealed the news to the public yesterday on social media, saying he was halfway through his treatment for Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma.

"Thanks for all your supportive messages that are helping me get through my chemo for Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma," posed Hasting. "I am half-way through treatment which is going well apart from hair!"

The 61-year-old's timeline was flooded with well-wishes from across the rugby world with the likes of Jonathan Davies, David Flatman, Rory Lawson, Jim Hamilton, Phil Greening, Nick Mullins and Brian Moore all wishing the best with his treatment.

Hasting, in reply to former Ireland international Phillip Matthews, wrote that the illness was very treatable: "All good and my cancer is very treatable and non life threatening! Fantastic support from former players who had great respect for each other on off the pitch! Can’t wait to catch up with you soon!"

Scott is still Scotland’s most capped rugby centre with 65 Test appearances. He played in 51 internationals alongside brother Gavin and they are the only brothers to have played on two British Lions Tours to Australia in 1989 and to New Zealand in 1993.

He is also the former captain of the Scotland 7s team and played in tournaments around the world including Dubai and Hong Kong. In 1996 he was Captain of his club that won the famous Melrose 7s tournament where the game of 7s was invented in 1883.