Ruaridh "Pingu" MacDonald Reaches 200 1XV Appearances Milestone

The 32-year-old versatile back, who was playing scrum-half against Howe of Fife at Canal Park on Saturday, helped the Inverness outfit get their Arnold Clark National Two campaign off to a flying start with a 69-34 bonus point triumph.

“It is a big honour to have played 200 games for the 1st XV,” the man known by all at the club as Pingu said.

“I'm definitely not the biggest, fastest or strongest player, but it is great to have been given the opportunity to represent the club and wear the shirt so many times.

I don't score many tries so to get one on Saturday and then for all the boys to come over to celebrate with me was a special moment.

“It was great to start the season with a victory. It is still early in the campaign so there were a few mistakes and tired bodies, but there were lots of positives and, after relegation last term, we are using 2025-26 as a chance to rebuild and brin through the next generation of players.

“We have some very talented young players coming through into the seniors and currently in our under-16 and 18 squads so that is exciting.”

MacDonald started playing at Highland in the Minis when he was in primary school and has played almost all of his rugby at the club since apart from two seasons with Portobello while studying in Edinburgh.

“My 1st XV debut was away to Stewartry in March 2010 in a 40-10 loss,” he recounted.

“I was still playing for our under-18s mainly, but there were phone calls on the way down the road to try and get some more players and in the end our coach Hugh Mackintosh had to begin the game in his cargo shorts so that we had 15 players to start things.

“The referee wouldn't let us start with 14, but as the game kicked off - Hugh 'limped' to the sidelines with an 'injury' and we continued the game a player down.

“I was reminded in the changing rooms on Saturday that I am the only one left from ‘the dark days’ and this just shows how far we have come since Davie Carson and his coaching teams started the rebuild in 2013-14.

“There are a lot of players in our senior men's section that have grown up playing rugby here and we spend a good number of hours on a bus together every second weekend and it does make a difference when times are tough. For example, 15 out of the 20-strong on Saturday had previously played youth rugby at Highland.

“I love being at the club and I am really fortunate that I get to work for Highland too and I am a development officer here.”

And, as for the nickname Pingu, how did that come about?

“Pingu has been my rugby nickname since I was 18,” MacDonald explained.

“I was in the changing room before training one evening chatting to another player and Tam Magowan walked in. After listening for a couple of seconds as he dropped off his bag as he was walking outside and he said ‘you sound like Pingu’ (the motion animated children's television penguin).

“Now people only know me as Pingu not Ruaridh. It is one of those nicknames that just stuck.”