No need to go back to the construction of Hadrian’s Wall by the Romans in 122 to remember that between Scots and English the antagonism goes back a thousand years. But on Saturday February 6, the meeting between the two teams at the opening of the Six Nations Tournament (5:45 p.m.) will revive the rivalry. And the London walls of Twickenham will immerse themselves, the time of a pre-match, in the distant past: the memory of the first confrontation, 150 years ago this year, for the very first international rugby match of the ‘history.
“It’s our biggest game every year, for our players, but also for all our people”, argued Gregor Townsend, the coach of the XV du Chardon before the start of the Tournament. The Scottish technician knows that starting the Six Nations on the lawn of the trophy holder will not be a piece of cake. “It’s the game we’ve played most often, and this year, this rivalry has been around for 150 years. “
In 1871, a news item – archived by the World Rugby Museum in Twickenham – reports on the match, which was played on March 27 in Edinburgh.
“On Monday, the great England match against Scotland took place in Edinburgh, in the presence of a large number of spectators. The twenty players on each team were representatives of the best clubs from both countries. The game was hotly contested, and in the first fifty minutes the two sides were evenly matched. After the change of sides, the twenty Scots invaded the English field, and were rewarded with a try. The kick that followed scored a goal. The English, subsequently, got a try, but failed to score the goal. At the end of regulation time, the Scots were declared the winners by a goal and a try. “
“To tell the story of this match, you have to go back to a meeting that took place a year ago, relates Phil McGowan, the curator of the museum housed in the English stadium. This 1870 match, described as an international match between England and Scotland, was played under “association football” rules. [le football actuel], rather than those of “rugby football” [qui a donné le rugby]. “ But after the match, won by the English, the Scots complained about the conditions in which the game took place: “All the players who defended the colors of Scotland were from London, not the country; and at the time Scotland had not recognized the rules of association football, so for them it was not a valid match. “
An answer to the “challenge” of five Scottish captains
In the land of British sport, which was then taking shape, a first schism had just occurred in 1863, which saw football and rugby each follow their own path. Motivated by questions of class struggle, a second fracture will follow in the oval, leading to the distinction between rugby in XIII and XV at the end of the XIXe century.
Feeling cheated, the captains of five Scottish teams publish an open letter in the pages of the Scotsman Newspaper, in which they challenge the English footballers to come to Edinburgh or Glasgow to play a “Appropriate game”, respecting the rules of the Rugby school. Gathered in Rugby Football Union, the English rugby federation, founded in January 1871, the English “footballers” (who are rugby players, therefore) send twenty of their players to raise the glove.
It was in a little corner of Edinburgh, Raeburn Place, that the first official international rugby match was played. “We were playing with twenty players per team, and the game was in its infancy, it was mainly a clash between forwards, emphasizes Phil McGowan. It was not a great spectacle: the scrums could last twenty minutes, and a point was scored only if, after scoring a try, the conversion was successful. ” Hence the mark (1-0) of this historic meeting.
A foundation for the development of international rugby
Difficult for the public to follow the game: the ball can pass throughout the match under a mass of bodies. However, 2000 spectators attended the meeting, “A huge surprise, at the time, for the organizers”, insists the curator of the World Rugby Museum. If the English federation and its Scottish counterpart wished to celebrate with great pomp the anniversary of the meeting, Saturday, on the occasion of the clash between the XV of the Rose and that of the Thistle, Twickenham will ring terribly hollow. It’s in an empty stadium that the Scots will sing Flower of Scotland, the unofficial anthem of a whole people, adopted by the country’s rugby players in 1989.
It was because of a controversial attempt made by the English against the Scots in 1884 that the International Rugby Board, the international federation, was created. “With the exception of the two world wars, the meeting has taken place every year since 1871, emphasizes Phil McGowan. And his heritage is clear. ”
#OTD in 1871 the first international rugby union match took place. 🏉 The match was played at Raeburn Place, Edinbur… https://t.co/wG7QZRSqUM
Base of the Home Nations Championship – with the gradual incorporation of Ireland (1875) and Wales (1881) – and its heir, the Tournament of five, then six, nations (France joined the competition in 1910, and Italy in 2000), the confrontation includes, since 1879, another stake: the Calcutta Cup. A silver trophy, the cup celebrates the legacy of a rugby team in British India, and rewards the winner of the reissues of the first international match. The first also to have been televised – in 1938 – on the BBC.
On Saturday, the English and the Scots will wear a souvenir jersey, in tribute to the first clash between their two teams. And in a hundred and fifty years, will we remember it? “Rugby will have continued to develop, as more and more countries are playing it. Yes, it will really be an international sport ”, imagine Phil McGowan, historian amused by this foresight exercise. And if it’s a safe bet that the rivalry will have continued, it is unlikely, given the evolution of the game, that the scrums last twenty minutes.
