96-427: Ludovic Stuart (22 October 1902 - 3 March 1957) was a Scotland international rugby union player. Stuart joined Glasgow HSFP in 1920. Due to his footballing prowess, he became known as a great exponent of dribbling with the oval rugby ball, which at the time was legal, fashionable, and an exponent in which the Scottish sides excelled. He captained the side for a time. He played for Glasgow District in
192-821: A round-robin , with the top two teams advancing to the knockout stage . [REDACTED] New Zealand [REDACTED] France [REDACTED] Italy [REDACTED] Uruguay [REDACTED] Namibia [REDACTED] South Africa [REDACTED] Ireland [REDACTED] Scotland [REDACTED] Tonga [REDACTED] Romania [REDACTED] Wales [REDACTED] Australia [REDACTED] Fiji [REDACTED] Georgia [REDACTED] Portugal [REDACTED] England [REDACTED] Japan [REDACTED] Argentina [REDACTED] Samoa [REDACTED] Chile Points allocation in pool stage For clarification, in
288-526: A 0–0 draw, the last international match in which no points were scored. The Calcutta Cup was won 15–6, the first time since 1950 and they shared the Five Nations title in 1964 with Wales. In 1971 the SRU appointed Bill Dickinson as their head coach, after years of avoidance, as it was their belief that rugby should remain an amateur sport. He was officially designated as an "adviser to the captain". Scotland were
384-559: A 10 match losing streak against Les Bleus . Scotland had a successful tour of Japan in June (winning both test matches), and during the Autumn Internationals recorded a third consecutive win against Argentina (their seventh recognised win overall against the Pumas). In the 2017 Six Nations , Scotland saw a marked improvement in performance with three home wins and two away defeats. This
480-415: A 15–9 victory before succumbing to Italy, avoiding the wooden spoon only on scoring difference. They then toured Argentina in the summer to play two tests against Argentina. They lost the first test 21–15, but won the second 26–14. In a dismal 2009 Six Nations campaign, Scotland won just one match for a second consecutive year (against Italy) and thus, on 2 April 2009 Frank Hadden resigned as head coach of
576-512: A Rob Andrew drop goal. In the third place play-off they were beaten by New Zealand. Scotland went through 1994 without a single win, but bounced back in 1995 to win their first three Five Nations matches. This run of wins included a 23–21 win away against France, courtesy of a last minute try and conversion by Gavin Hastings. This was Scotland's first win in Paris since 1969. The last Five Nations match
672-580: A World Cup as a referee and Joy Neville became the first female named on match official panel for a men's Rugby World Cup. The opening ceremony, directed and written by Jean Dujardin , Olivier Ferracci and Nora Matthey, took place on 8 September 2023 at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis , before the opening match between France and New Zealand. Competing countries were divided into four pools of five teams (pools A to D). Teams in each pool played one another in
768-613: A decision of the SRU to defuse any possibility of a "national embarrassment" (which the Scottish press feared) caused by the crowd booing the latter anthem, as the Queen was visiting Murrayfield during the 1976 Calcutta Cup. Scotland have traditionally worn navy blue jerseys, white shorts and blue socks. On the occasion that Scotland is the home side and the opposing team normally wears dark colours, Scotland will use its change strip. Traditionally this
864-649: A final (winning 15–12 a.e.t. in 1995 ), and also their second victory in a final on French soil (defeating England 15–6 in 2007 ). As well as winning the World Cup after losing a pool game for the second consecutive time, they won each of their knockout games against France, England and New Zealand by a margin of 1 point. Chile made their first appearance in the tournament. Portugal returned for their second appearance, 16 years after their debut in 2007, also in France. World Rugby requested that any members wishing to host
960-683: A further eight times. Scotland have won three Grand Slams (including the Triple Crown) in 1925, 1984 and 1990, in addition to a further seven Triple Crowns. They also contest the Calcutta Cup with England as part of the championship. Scotland were the winners of the last Five Nations in 1999, before Italy joined the competition to make it the Six Nations. The Triple Crown is awarded to the Scotland, England, Ireland or Wales national side if they can beat
1056-454: A poor showing in the 2011 Six Nations , winning just one match, a 21–8 victory over Italy. In the 2011 Rugby World Cup , Scotland struggled to beat Romania 34–24 and Georgia 15–6, before losing 13–12 to Argentina. Needing a win going into their final match against England in Auckland, they led 12–3 with a quarter of the game to go, only to lose out to a Chris Ashton try, going down 16–12. This
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#17330856192391152-466: A result, a new logo – a thistle containing a rugby ball – was designed in October 1990 by graphic designer Chic Harper (www.chicharper.com). This was launched on Thursday 22 November at Murrayfield, Edinburgh with a £1M sponsorship deal with Umbro. The new logo was first worn on the nation's shirts at Parc des Princes, Paris on Saturday 19 January 1991 with the name 'Scottish Rugby Union' below the thistle. This
1248-403: A squad of 33 players for the tournament, an increase from 31 that was allowed in 2019. The squads were to be submitted to World Rugby by 1 September. If a team needed to call-up a new player, a player must first have been withdrawn from the active 33-player squad which is usually as a consequence of a long-term injury. On 1 May, Wales were the first team to name their extended training squad for
1344-437: A then record defeat. Scotland suffered 17 successive defeats between February 1951 and February 1955, scored only 54 points in these 17 games: 11 tries, six conversions, and four penalties. The teams from 1955 to 1963 were an improvement. There were no wins over England, but three of the games were drawn. Occasional wins were recorded against Wales, Ireland and France. 1964 was a good year for Scotland. New Zealand were held to
1440-548: A whitewash for Scotland, despite optimism amongst players and supporters beforehand. However, Scotland displayed improved performances in their World Cup warm-up games over the summer, with two wins over Italy and narrow defeats away in Ireland and France. Scotland played well at the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England; qualifying from their group by beating Japan, USA and Samoa, although they lost to South Africa. Scotland played Australia in
1536-466: Is a white jersey with navy blue shorts and socks. For a brief period, when Cotton Oxford were the shirt sponsors, the white shirt was replaced by a bright orange one with orange and blue hoops on the sleeves. This was first used against the New Zealand Māori on 14 November 1998. This change strip was replaced by the traditional white one just two years later. Also during this sponsorship deal, purple
1632-533: Is unique in that it is competed for annually only by England and Scotland. The first Calcutta Cup match was played in 1879 and, since that time, over 100 matches have taken place. In 1882 the Home Nations Championship, the fore-runner of the modern Six Nations Championship was founded with Scotland, England, Wales and Ireland taking part. The Scots enjoyed occasional success in the early years, winning their first Triple Crown in 1891 and repeating
1728-520: The 1921 inter-city match. He played for Scotland Probables in the first trial match of the 1922-23 season. He was capped eight times for Scotland between 1923 and 1930. The cry of 'Feet, Scotland, Feet!' became commonplace at Murrayfield Stadium due to the Scots dribbling skills with the rugby ball in this period, exemplified by Stuart. He represented Scotland and Ireland in their centenary match against England and Wales in 1923. He also played for
1824-423: The 2019 Rugby World Cup final . South Africa retained their title by defeating New Zealand in the final. In doing so, they became the first team to win the tournament four times and they remain the only team to ever win the World Cup after losing a match in the pool stage, as well as the first team to win successive World Cup titles away from home. The result also marked their second victory over New Zealand in
1920-473: The Barbarians . Like his brother Charles who was approached by Rangers , Ludovic was an accomplished footballer. He played for his school team Bellahouston Academy and was on trial at Queen's Park . However he quit football to concentrate on rugby union. He quit rugby union for some years to set up a law career, resulting in only 8 caps for Scotland. In addition, as team-mate Bill Johnston recalled, Stuart
2016-536: The Calcutta Cup . In the 2006 Autumn internationals Scotland won two of three fixtures. They convincingly beat Romania and put up a solid first half performance against the Pacific Islanders . In the final match against Australia , Scotland failed to impress, with Australia winning 44–15. In 2007, Scotland became the first Six Nations team to lose at home to Italy, 17–37. This was Italy 's biggest ever victory over Scotland, home or away. Later that year,
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#17330856192392112-528: The Grand Slam champions of the two previous seasons were the first visitors to Murrayfield. 70,000 spectators saw the lead change hands three times before Scotland secured a 14–11 victory which gave them their first-ever Five Nations Grand Slam. In 1926, Scotland became the first Home nation side to defeat England at Twickenham after England had won the Grand Slam five times in eight seasons. The outbreak of
2208-466: The Six Nations Championship , which is played against five other European nations: France, England, Ireland, Italy and Wales. The Six Nations started out as the Home Nations Championship in 1883, with Scotland sharing the championship with England in 1886 before winning the title outright for the first time a year later. Scotland have won the title outright 14 times and shared the championship
2304-512: The 1946–47 season, although these were not formally recognised and no caps were awarded to participating players. In January 1946, Scotland played and defeated a strong New Zealand Armed Forces team by 11–6. Scotland resumed full international matches in February 1947, losing 22–8 to Wales at Murrayfield. The period after World War Two was not a successful one for Scotland. In 1951, the touring Springboks massacred Scotland 44–0 scoring nine tries,
2400-524: The 1–0 score). England later won the return match at the Kennington Oval , London in the following year. The Calcutta Cup was donated to the Rugby Football Union in 1878 by the members of the short-lived Calcutta Rugby Club. The members had decided to disband: the cup was crafted from melted-down silver rupees which became available when the club's funds were withdrawn from the bank. The Cup
2496-478: The 20 players used in total throughout only two played for clubs outwith Scotland. Jim Telfer stood down after the Grand Slam to concentrate on his professional career as a school master. He was succeeded by his assistant, the former Hawick fly-half, Colin Telfer (not a relative). He lasted just over a year, enduring a whitewash in the 1985 Five Nations, before resigning to concentrate on his business. Derrick Grant
2592-416: The 2023 event were to submit an expression of interest by June 2015. A total of six unions responded. The Italian Rugby Federation were among the members interested, but withdrew from their bid on 28 September 2016. The Argentine Rugby Union and USA Rugby both expressed their interest in hosting the event but ultimately decided against a formal bid. Three bids were officially submitted to World Rugby by
2688-624: The East Stand built in 1983, the new North and South stands in 1993 and a redeveloped West Stand completed in 1994. Murrayfield's record attendance of 104,000 was set on 1 March 1975 when Scotland defeated Wales 12–10 during the 1975 Five Nations Championship . This attendance stood as a world record until 1999 when 107,042 attended the Bledisloe Cup match between Australia and New Zealand in Stadium Australia . Scotland competes annually in
2784-663: The June 2017 deadline. On 15 November 2017, the French Rugby Federation bid was chosen ahead of bids by the South African Rugby Union and the Irish Rugby Football Union . France had launched its bid on 9 February 2017. On 17 March 2017, twelve host cities were selected. This list was later reduced to nine cities (excluding Paris, Montpellier , and Lens ): Source: Twenty teams competed. A total of 12 teams gained automatic qualification for
2880-641: The SFU became the first of the Home Unions to own its own ground. The first visitors were Ireland, on 18 February 1899 (Scotland 3–9 Ireland). International rugby was played at Inverleith until 1925. The SFU bought some land and built the first Murrayfield Stadium which was opened on 21 March 1925. In 1925 Scotland already had victories over France at Inverleith (25–4), Wales in Swansea (24–14) and Ireland in Dublin (14–8). England,
2976-468: The SRU had to wait until 2014 as club Clermont failed to reach an agreement with the SRU to release Cotter a year early from his contract. Scotland had a dismal 2014 Six Nations campaign; managing only one win (away in Italy), finishing second bottom and defeated 51–3 by Wales in the final match. Vern Cotter finally assumed his role as head coach, and in June of the same year Scotland won three tests against
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3072-592: The Scots Guards (the latter both "belonging" to the monarch). " Flower of Scotland " has been used since 1990 as Scotland's unofficial national anthem. It was written by Roy Williamson of The Corries in 1967, and adopted by the SRU to replace " God Save the Queen ". In the first year of using "Flower of Scotland" as an anthem, Scotland walked onto the pitch at the beginning of the Five Nations Championship deciding match against England . This combination
3168-561: The Scottish Rugby Union from affiliating itself from any other whisky manufacturer. On 3 September 2007 it was announced that the then Rangers chairman Sir David Murray 's company would become the new shirt sponsor, in a deal worth £2.7 million over three years. In August 2011, the Royal Bank of Scotland took over as main sponsors of Scottish Rugby, after Sir David Murray's company decided to end their sponsorship. BT became
3264-510: The Second World War in September 1939 brought rugby union in Scotland to a halt. The SRU cancelled all arranged trial and international matches and encouraged the member clubs to carry on as best they could. Some clubs closed down, others amalgamated and carried on playing other local clubs and, sometimes, teams from the armed forces stationed in their various areas. Internationals resumed in
3360-517: The annual Six Nations Championship , where they are the current Calcutta Cup and Doddie Weir Cup holders. They also participate in the Rugby World Cup , which takes place every four years. The history of the team dates from 1871, when the Scottish rugby team played their first official test match , winning 1–0 against England at Raeburn Place . Scotland competed in the Five Nations from
3456-413: The away side. Scotland under the captaincy of prop David Sole went on to win 13–7,> and with it their third Grand Slam . The match against England in 1990 was also only the second time that Flower of Scotland was played at Murrayfield, having become Scotland's pre-match national anthem that year. SRU made NO money from sponsorship after their 1990 Grand Slam as their thistle was not registered. As
3552-433: The car, thus making the case much more notable. The youths were in fact charged with attempted murder, as the policemen jumped on the car's footrest; and the youths attempting to wrest them from the car rammed into the side of a passing tram. Stuart was a witness in the court. His father was Charles Douglas Stuart senior, a former Royal HSFP player and rugby union journalist. Ludovic was the brother of Charles Stuart who
3648-480: The case of a tie between three or more Teams at the end of the pool phase, once the highest ranked Team has been determined following the above criteria, to determine the next higher ranked Team the process would repeat, starting at the first criterion. The knockout stage consisted of three single-elimination rounds culminating in a final and a third-place playoff. In the case of a tie in regulation time, two 10-minute periods of extra time would be played to determine
3744-451: The championship since the 1950s. The Scots finally ended their losing run with a 36–20 win over Italy in Rome; John Barclay , John Hardie and Tommy Seymour all scoring tries. Scotland followed that win up with a victory over France at Murrayfield; Stuart Hogg , Duncan Taylor and Tim Visser scoring tries in a 29–18 win. It was Scotland's first victory over France since 2006, and also ended
3840-431: The country. The opening game and final took place at the Stade de France , north of Paris. The tournament was held in the bicentenary year of the purported invention of the sport by William Webb Ellis . The tournament was scheduled to last six weeks, but in February 2021 World Rugby added a week to provide additional rest days for player welfare. This meant that teams had a minimum of five days' rest for all matches. It
3936-664: The defence of Scotland against a night attack by Norwegian Vikings, one of whom let out a yell of pain when he stepped barefoot on a thistle, alerting the Scottish defenders. The Latin Nemo me impune lacessit ("No-one provokes me with impunity!" in English) is an ancient motto of the Kings of Scotland, and also of Scotland's premier chivalric order, the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle, and of
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4032-492: The eagerly anticipated Calcutta Cup tie against England at Twickenham, however, Scotland were thrashed 61–21. This was a record defeat against the English, and a result which ended their hopes of winning the Six Nations. In the last week, Scotland defeated Italy at Murrayfield with a 29–0 victory, securing fourth place in the tournament table. Gregor Townsend took over as head coach in June 2017. His first fixture as head coach
4128-483: The eight qualifying teams, with allocation to each band being based on the previous Rugby World Cup playing strength: This meant the 20 teams, qualified and qualifiers, were seeded thus (world ranking as of 1 January 2020): Having the draw so early (almost three years before the competition) has been criticised. Changes in the World Rugby Rankings have taken place since, meaning that Pool B contained three of
4224-474: The feat again in 1895, and vying with Wales for dominance in the first decade of the 20th century. Further Triple Crowns wins for Scotland followed in 1901, 1903 and 1907. However, Scotland's triumph in 1907 would be the last for eighteen years as the First World War (1914–1918) and England's dominance afterwards would deny them glory. In 1897 land was purchased by the SFU at Inverleith , Edinburgh. Thus
4320-515: The final repechage. The Americas were allocated two qualifying berths through a series of playoff matches spanning both regions. The 2023 Rugby World Cup witnessed historic developments in North and South American rugby. Canada's absence marked the first time in history that the country failed to qualify for the tournament. Similarly, the United States found themselves excluded from the competition for
4416-756: The final rugby match at Croke Park , Scotland gained their only win of the tournament 23–20 with a last-minute penalty by Dan Parks , denying the Irish the Triple Crown and assuring they themselves would avoid the wooden spoon. That summer , Scotland toured Argentina and recorded their first ever away series victory, beating the Pumas in both tests, 24–16 and 13–9. In the Autumn Internationals of 2010, Scotland lost heavily against New Zealand before recording victories against South Africa, 21–17, and Samoa, 19–16. Scotland had
4512-483: The first World Cup , played in New Zealand and Australia in the summer of 1987 . John Rutherford , the team's general and controlling influence, had injured his knee on an unauthorised tour of Bermuda. He broke down after less than a quarter of an hour of the first World Cup match against France and never played for Scotland again. Scotland had been in the lead but the match finished level. Scotland lost to New Zealand in
4608-544: The first of the Home Unions to run a truly nationwide club league. This was introduced in 1973 and still flourishes today with several of the country's original clubs still very much in evidence, such as Heriots , West of Scotland , Watsonians and the famous ' border ' clubs such as Gala , Hawick , Jed-Forest , Kelso and Melrose . However the advent of professionalism saw Scotland's District championship abandoned and two 'Super Districts' formed, which have resulted in
4704-420: The first time an expanded television match officials team of seven to handle the 48 matches. Amongst the squad, Wayne Barnes officiated at a record fifth Rugby World Cup, while Nika Amashukeli became the first Georgian referee in the World Cup and first Tier 2 representative to referee a game since the game turned professional. Matthew Carley , Karl Dickson and Andrew Brace made their first appearance in
4800-525: The first time since 1983 and securing the Calcutta Cup. On 13 February they lost their next match, against Wales, 25–24 at Murrayfield. In 2024 the Scotland Rugby Men's Team featured in a Netflix documentary Six Nations: Full Contact. The thistle is the national flower , and also the symbol of the Scotland national rugby union team. According to legend the "guardian thistle" has played its part in
4896-539: The first time since 1995, representing a notable departure from previous editions. The absence of North American representation significantly shifted the regional dynamic due to unified North and South American qualification matches. On 18 November 2022, Portugal won the repechage tournament, overcoming Kenya, Hong Kong and the United States to be the last country to qualify for the 2023 Rugby World Cup. ¹as of 4 September 2023 post warm-up matches Each team could submit
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#17330856192394992-560: The first time since the First World War. Jim Telfer became national coach in 1980, inheriting a squad of genuine potential. In March 1982 Scotland won away in Wales for the first time in 20 years. Scotland toured Australia in July 1982 and won the first test, Scotland's first away victory against any of the big three Southern Hemisphere sides. After this, the 1983 season was a disappointment; losing their first three Five Nations matches. However,
5088-405: The first-ever rugby international match being played at Academical Cricket Club 's ground at Raeburn Place, Edinburgh , on Monday 27 March 1871. In front of around 4,000 spectators, the Scots won the encounter by a try (made by Angus Buchanan ) and a goal (made by William Cross ) to a solitary try scored by England (a points scoring system had not then been devised so only the goal counted towards
5184-498: The inaugural tournament in 1883, winning it 14 times outright—including the last Five Nations in 1999 —and sharing it another eight. In 2000, the competition accepted a sixth competitor, Italy , thus forming the Six Nations . Since this change, Scotland have yet to win the competition. The Rugby World Cup was introduced in 1987 and Scotland have competed in all ten competitions, the most recent being in 2023 , where they failed to reach
5280-504: The last-ever Five Nations Championship in 1999 with a last minute win by Wales over England. However, in the 1999 World Cup they suffered a quarter-final defeat to New Zealand. Scotland endured a torrid Six Nations in 2000, losing their first four straight games. but won the final game against England 19–13 under captain Andy Nicol . Australian coach Matt Williams became the first foreigner to coach Scotland in 2003. However his tenure
5376-632: The majority of the game after Kepu's dismissal, inflicting eight tries on the visitors in what was the Australian hooker Stephen Moore 's final international game. Scotland won 53–24, their biggest ever margin of victory over Australia. In the 2019 Rugby World Cup , Scotland took an early exit with losses to both Ireland and the hosts. Scotland did however score ninety-five unanswered points across two wins against Samoa and Russia. On 6 February 2021, Scotland won their first game of that year's Six Nations tournament, defeating England 6 – 11 at Twickenham for
5472-400: The national leagues in 1973–74 was beginning to bear fruit; the standard of club and district rugby was higher than ever and players were more accustomed to experiencing pressure in matches where the result really mattered. Fewer players were being selected from English clubs to represent Scotland as the domestic game was producing an adequate number of players of genuine international class for
5568-504: The national side. On 4 June 2009, ex-England , Edinburgh and Bath coach Andy Robinson was named head coach in time for the 2009 Autumn Internationals . Scotland's form picked up with a 23–10 victory over Fiji and a memorable 9–8 win against Australia (the first win over the Wallabies for 27 years) at Murrayfield. In the 2010 Six Nations Scotland lost against France, Wales and Italy before drawing with England. Against Ireland, in
5664-470: The number fonts on the back of their kits were Arial rounded MT bold (or Oswald Bold, during the 2015 Rugby World Cup). Scotland play at Murrayfield Stadium which is the largest sports stadium in Scotland and with a capacity of 67,144 - the fifth largest in the UK. In the early years the Scottish rugby team played at Inverleith in the north of Edinburgh. In 1923 SRU identified 19 acres of land at Murrayfield in
5760-405: The other three 'Home Nation' sides in the Six Nations tournament of that year. Ireland is the current holder. 2023 Rugby World Cup The 2023 Rugby World Cup ( French : Coupe du monde de rugby 2023 ) was the tenth men's Rugby World Cup , the quadrennial world championship for national rugby union teams. It took place in France from 8 September to 28 October 2023 in nine venues across
5856-411: The primary shirt sponsor as part of the £20 million deal signed in 2014. In the summer of 2021 Peter Vardy Group replaced BT as principal partner and shirt sponsor. Between the 2007 Rugby World Cup warm up games and the 2013 South African quadrangular tournament, the fonts used for their number kit on the back of their kits were Crillee Extra Bold Italic. But since Macron took over as kit supplier,
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#17330856192395952-483: The qualifying tournament. After a controversial investigation, it was concluded that the player in question had falsified his passport: Spain received a deduction of 10 points, resulting in them being effectively ejected from the competition, with Romania replacing them as Europe 2 behind Georgia , unaffected as Europe 1. Portugal then took Romania's spot in the repechage tournament as Europe 3. In Oceania and Asia, traditional middle powers emerged, with Samoa claiming
6048-438: The quarter-final. On 27 June 1988, Ian McGeechan was appointed as head coach to succeed Derrick Grant who had retired after the end of the 1988 Five Nations series. Their greatest year in the modern era was 1990, when their season came down to one game, a Grand Slam decider at Murrayfield against the "auld enemy", England. Both sides had won all their Five Nations fixtures, and England were overwhelming favourites despite being
6144-430: The quarter-finals, and with 30 seconds remaining led 34–32. However, referee Craig Joubert then awarded the Wallabies a highly controversial penalty, later judged by the game's ruling body to be incorrect, which Bernard Foley scored to give Australia victory. Scotland lost their first two games in the 2016 Six Nations Championship , extending their losing streak in the Six Nations to nine matches, their worst run in
6240-691: The quarter-finals. Their best finish came in 1991 , where they lost to the All Blacks in the third place play-off . Scotland have beaten all major rugby union playing nations except for New Zealand, the best result being two draws. As of 14 February 2024, Scotland are sixth in the World Rugby Rankings . In December 1870 a group of Scots players issued a letter of challenge in The Scotsman and in Bell's Life in London , to play an England XX at rugby rules. This led to
6336-431: The region's place at the World Cup (Fiji, New Zealand and Australia having automatically qualified). Tonga , the second Oceanian team, then won a playoff against Hong Kong , the highest ranked Asian representative, to claim their ninth appearance at a Rugby World Cup. Hong Kong proceeded to the final repechage tournament. In Africa, Namibia reached their seventh Rugby World Cup as Africa 1, with Kenya moving forward to
6432-405: The side travelled to France for the 2007 Rugby World Cup. They made their way through their group and reached the quarter finals, where they were knocked out by Argentina. Scotland opened their 2008 Six Nations campaign losing 27–6 to France at home. Pressure on Frank Hadden started to intensify after Scotland lost to Wales and then to Ireland. They then defeated England in the Calcutta Cup with
6528-560: The symbol of the Scottish team. In September 1993, a sponsorship deal was announced with The Famous Grouse , resulting in a sponsors' name being added to Scottish international players' kit for the first time in addition to the jersey manufacturers' emblem. In 1997 a new deal saw the Grouse logo appear on the Scotland jersey. Further deals followed and it became the longest association with a sponsor in world rugby. During this time, when Scotland played test matches in France, The Famous Grouse logo
6624-455: The team in December 2012. During the 2013 Six Nations , Scotland won their matches against Italy and Ireland to finish third, their best finish in the competition since 2006. On 3 May 2013, Johnson was named the first ever Director of Rugby for Scotland responsible for overseeing all rugby in the nation. On 27 May 2013, it was announced that Vern Cotter would become head coach of Scotland, but
6720-414: The top five teams (Ireland (1) , South Africa (2) and Scotland (5) ), while Pool A contained France (3) and New Zealand (4) . Meanwhile, Pool C 's highest-ranked team at the start of the tournament was Fiji (7) . World Rugby CEO Alan Gilpin pledged that draws for future World Cups would be better balanced. World Rugby named the following 12 referees, seven assistant referees and for
6816-512: The top players generally being unavailable for their clubs. These teams play in international club competitions such as the Heineken Cup and the Pro14 . On 1 March 1975, around 104,000 spectators watched Scotland defeat Wales 12–10 in a Five Nations match at Murrayfield. The attendance at the time was a World Record for a Rugby Union match, and remains the record attendance at Murrayfield. That win
6912-466: The top teams of the Americas , before being hammered by South Africa 55–6. The three autumn tests held at Murrayfield during November yielded wins over Argentina and Tonga, and a narrow defeat against New Zealand. The test against Tonga took place at Rugby Park , Kilmarnock , and was the first Rugby Union international to be played on an artificial surface . The 2015 Six Nations Championship ended in
7008-502: The tournament after finishing in the top three of their pool at the 2019 Rugby World Cup , which included France already automatically qualified as host. The remaining eight spaces were decided by regional competitions followed by a few cross-regional play-offs. Two berths were reserved to the European region. Spain originally qualified as Europe 2, but Romania lodged an official complaint that Spain had fielded an ineligible player during
7104-505: The tournament ended on a high when Scotland recorded only their second victory over England at Twickenham since 1938. Scotland then went on to draw with the All Blacks 25–25 in the late autumn. Scotland recovered their form in 1984 and achieved their second Grand Slam , and their first since 1925, under the captaincy of Jim Aitken . The team benefited from consistent selection – 12 players took part in all four Five Nations matches, and of
7200-449: The tournament. The pool draw took place on 14 December 2020 in Paris. The draw returned to its traditional place of the year following the previous World Cup, after the end-of-year internationals. The seeding system from previous Rugby World Cups was retained with the 12 automatic qualifiers from 2019 being allocated to their respective bands based on their World Rugby Rankings on 1 January 2020: The remaining two bands were made up of
7296-413: The west of the city on which to build a purpose-built stadium, purchasing this from Edinburgh Polo Club. One stand and three embankments were constructed over the following two years with the first international match taking place in 1925 where 70,000 people watched Scotland win 14–11 against England, thereby securing both the championship and a Grand Slam. The stadium has been developed over the years with
7392-409: The years that followed. Scotland went on to share the 1986 Five Nations championship with France, each side winning three out of their four games. The series also saw Scotland thrash England 33–6 at Murrayfield; Scotland's record win over the English, at the time one point short of Scotland's best score in any rugby union international and England's heaviest defeat in over a century. Scotland went to
7488-517: Was Vern Cotter 's last tournament as head coach of Scotland, despite them also beating Australia 24–19 on the summer tour of the Southern Hemisphere. In their first 6Ns game, Scotland went in with confidence to win their first opening match for eleven years against Ireland in a close match at Murrayfield Stadium . This followed with a defeat in Paris to France. Scotland secured a win over Wales in their third game, Scotland's first since 2007. In
7584-481: Was Scotland's first win in Australia since 1982 and the first time in 30 years that Scotland defeated Australia more than once in a row. Scotland also recorded away wins over both Fiji and Samoa. During Scotland's 2012 Autumn Tests they suffered a series of defeats, versus the All Blacks , South Africa and most notably Tonga, which caused head coach Andy Robinson to resign. Scott Johnson became interim head coach for
7680-610: Was against Italy in Singapore where Scotland won 34–13. A week later Scotland defeated Australia 24–19 in Sydney, the second time in a row Scotland had won on Australian soil. The victory was made more notable by the list of absentees, such as Stuart Hogg and Grieg Laidlaw , who were in New Zealand on Lions' duty. The tour was concluded by a 27–22 loss to Fiji in Suva. Victory over Samoa in November 2017
7776-522: Was also capped for Scotland in the pre-World War I period. Stuart died in 1957, after being in poor health. He was survived by his wife, a son and 2 daughters. Scotland national rugby union team The Scotland national rugby union team ( Scots : Scotland naitional rugby union team , Scottish Gaelic : sgioba nàiseanta rugbaidh na h-Alba ) represents the Scottish Rugby Union in men's international rugby union . The team takes part in
7872-465: Was also very outspoken and had a turbulent relationship with the Scottish Rugby Union which did not further his selection. Stuart hit the headlines in 1933 when his car was stolen by two youths from his home in 72 Hillhead Street in Glasgow. His car, a Morris Oxford, was notable for having a white steering wheel. Unfortunately as the youths made off with the car they injured two policemen attempting to stop
7968-463: Was another Grand Slam decider against England; however, this time the English defeated the Scots 24–12, largely due to the kicking prowess of Rob Andrew . The third World Cup, held in South Africa, came in 1995 . Pool play saw a narrow defeat by France, thanks to an injury-time try, and Scotland finished second in the pool. They were eliminated in the quarter-final against New Zealand. Scotland won
8064-469: Was both controversial and unsuccessful, marred by a string of poor results and fall-outs with coaches and players. In 2004 Williams attempted to introduce a controversial "Fortress Scotland" policy, whereby only those currently playing in Scotland were eligible to play in the national team. Meanwhile, the Scottish Rugby Union (SRU) came under new management, chief executive Phil Anderton (known as 'Firework Phil' for his pre-match entertainment spectacles)
8160-521: Was explosive and Scotland went on to beat England 13–7 and win the Five Nations Championship with a Grand Slam. Before Flower of Scotland was adopted as national anthem, " Scotland the Brave " was played for Scotland in the 1987 Rugby World Cup . Said song was usually immediately played before God Save the Queen when Scotland was playing at home (during the entrance of the teams), as result from
8256-518: Was finally sacked on 25 April 2005. Frank Hadden , the head coach of Edinburgh Gunners , was appointed interim coach for the 2005 summer internationals against the Barbarians and Romania , winning both. On 15 September 2005, he was appointed national coach of the Scotland team. In the first match of the 2006 Six Nations campaign, against France, Scotland won 20–16, and this was the first time since 1999 that they had beaten France. Scotland also beat England 18–12 at home at Murrayfield to reclaim
8352-407: Was followed by a breathtaking performance against New Zealand at a sold-out Murrayfield. Tries from Jonny Gray and Huw Jones brought Scotland to 17–22 with barely a minute to go, but it took a superb cover tackle from the All Blacks fly-half Beauden Barrett to prevent Stuart Hogg from scoring a winning try. A week later Scotland registered a record win over the Wallabies, who played with 14 men for
8448-434: Was introduced to the traditional blue jersey. This was a significant departure from the traditional colours of blue and white, although purple is inspired from the thistle flower. SRU made NO money from sponsorship after their 1990 Grand Slam as their thistle was not registered. As a result, a new logo – a thistle containing a rugby ball – was designed in October 1990 by graphic designer Chic Harper (www.chicharper.com). This
8544-401: Was launched on Thursday 22 November at Murrayfield, Edinburgh with a £1M sponsorship deal with Umbro. The new logo was first worn on the nation's shirts at Parc des Princes, Paris on Saturday 19 January 1991 with the name 'Scottish Rugby Union' below the thistle. This was soon replaced with just 'Scottish Rugby'. In recent times, the wording has been dropped altogether to leave only the thistle as
8640-510: Was leading the way back to financial solvency and implementing major reforms to reverse the decline of the game in Scotland , but he resigned in January 2005 after his boss David Mackay was forced to resign by the SRU's general committee. By April 2005, Scotland had won only three out of 17 matches under Williams. Following a review by the SRU and public criticism from several of his players, Williams
8736-433: Was part of a run of nine successive wins at Murrayfield during the 1970s for the national side, but they were unable to transfer that form outwith Scotland, only managing two away wins during the decade. In 1977 Nairn McEwan succeeded Bill Dickinson as national coach. However, he was only able to win one international in his three years in charge. Nevertheless, rugby in Scotland was clearly developing. The establishment of
8832-468: Was replaced by the initials "TFG" due to the Evin law that bans any alcohol advertisement (including in sports events) in France. In May 2007, after seventeen years, The Famous Grouse ended its shirt sponsorship with the team. The Famous Grouse did maintain a low profile link to the Scottish Rugby Union by becoming the main spirit sponsor. This deal is thought to be worth a tenth of the original cost and forbids
8928-436: Was soon replaced with just 'Scottish Rugby'. In recent times, the wording has been dropped altogether to leave only the thistle as the symbol of the Scottish team. The second World Cup took place in 1991 with matches shared between the Five Nations. Scotland won their pool, though the game against Ireland was close, and then beat Western Samoa in the quarter-final. They lost to England in the semi-final held at Murrayfield to
9024-543: Was the first time Scotland had been knocked out in the group stages of the Rugby World Cup. Scotland's performance was weak during the 2012 Six Nations , picking up the wooden spoon and being whitewashed, despite promising moments, and falling to 12th, Scotland's lowest ever in the IRB rankings. Even after this whitewash, Scotland defeated Australia 9–6 in the 2012 Scotland rugby union tour of Australia, Fiji and Samoa . This
9120-406: Was the fourth time France has hosted the Rugby World Cup , having previously done so in 2007 and co-hosted the 1991 Rugby World Cup and 1999 Rugby World Cup with England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. This was the last tournament to feature 20 teams taking part, as the tournament will be expanded to include 24 teams in 2027. The defending champions were South Africa , who defeated England in
9216-433: Was then appointed head coach. In January 1986, a trial match between "Blues" (players expected to feature for Scotland) and "Reds" (emerging players with a possible international future) resulted in a shock 41–10 win for the "Reds". The "Reds" team included Gavin and Scott Hastings , Finlay Calder and David Sole , all of whom who would debut for Scotland in the Five Nations that year and feature prominently for side in
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