The inaugural Scottish Varsity Match was played on Wednesday 30 November – St Andrews Day – at London Scottish RFC in west London between University of St Andrews and University of Edinburgh in front of over 1500 spectators. 

The fixture between these two founding members of the Scottish Rugby Union is the Oldest Varsity match in the world and with the creation of this exciting event came the chance to win a trophy and be crowned Scottish Varsity Champions for the first time.

The St Andrews squad knew how big the occasion would be and as soon as they arrived at the ground they were being filmed coming off the bus in true big game style.

The game was filmed by The BBC, Sky Sports and IRB’s Totally Rugby which broadcasts worldwide.  Both squads were piped onto the field at 8pm for kick-off for what was to be the most intense game of the season.  Edinburgh, who play a league above St Andrews, took early dominance of both scrum and lineout and starved St Andrews of possession and got on the score board after 5mins with a penalty from their stand-off who controlled the game brilliant all night. Edinburgh dominated the first half as the bigger and more physical side. 

St Andrews were then dealt with a large slice of bad luck with their whole starting back-row including Captain Alan Little and key ball carrier Tim Rogers coming off injured all before half time.  Edinburgh scored two tries in the 1st half out wide, one of which was knocked on.

Half-Time: University of Edinburgh 20-0 University of St Andrews

St Andrews dominated the majority of the 2nd half and put Edinburgh under massive pressure on their own line. Breaks from Jake Starkey and Berti Ridley Thomas put St Andrews close but resolute defending from Edinburgh prevailed. A series of penalties led to an Edinburgh player being sin binned but it was not to be as Edinburgh scored two intercept length of the field tries to seal off the game.  

Full-time: University of Edinburgh 39-0 University of St Andrews    

The trophy was presented by British and Irish Lions Team Manager Andy Irvine and London Scottish CEO Tony Copsey to the Edinburgh Captain James Morrison. The post-game reception saw players mix with a large number of alumni from yesteryear who had travelled to watch the game and the band in the clubhouse provided entertainment for all.

The Scottish Varsity match has already been confirmed for next season, such as the success of this year’s game.