East of Scotland District (rugby union)

Last updated
East of Scotland
Full nameEast of Scotland District
Founded1876

East of Scotland District is a select provincial amateur rugby union team that draws its players from the East of Scotland.

Contents

Founded in 1876, the East of Scotland District team - and its corresponding West of Scotland District team - was created, thus halving Scotland's representative rugby union area in two.

This was meant as an impetus to include players from beyond the original Glasgow District and Edinburgh District catchment areas.

The West of Scotland District versus the East of Scotland District became the de facto trial match for the Scotland international team.

It survives today, but only for age-grade. [1]

[Similarly to the West of Scotland district side, having a non-associated club side West of Scotland sharing the same name, there was for a while a East of Scotland non-associated club side, sharing the East of Scotland district name, in the Midlands District League c. 1912] [2]

History

Formation

To include other players when selecting the international team, the East v West District match was introduced by the Scottish Rugby Union in the 1875-76 season.

The match was first played on 28 February 1876. [3]

On the advent of the East v West match, the Inter-City match between Glasgow District and Edinburgh District - previously a twice annual match - was cut down to one fixture per year. [4]

Trial matches

The East v West match was used as the premier Trial match for the Scotland international side. Although intended to increase representation from outwith Glasgow and Edinburgh, as this was the premier trial match both Glasgow and Edinburgh players were eligible for selection for their corresponding West and East sides.

Another Trial match, a Blues v Whites match was introduced in the 1877-88 season. The Blues v Whites match evolved into a 'Probables' v 'Possibles' match for Scotland selection. [5]

The East v West match remained the premier Trial match for Scotland until the late 1920s. It was at this stage that the Blues v Whites match overtook it in importance. The introduction of the Scotland Probables versus the Scotland Possibles trial match diminished the need for the East of Scotland District versus West of Scotland District again, and it continued in the 1930s as a junior trial match. 'Junior' matches were not age-related, but matches based on teams outwith the Scottish Unofficial Championship.

Age-grade format

The East v West match continued in its same format till 1948. It then switched to an age-grade format and was used for selecting the best Under 23 players for Scotland.

Hiatus

When the Scottish Inter-District Championship began its own grade tournament, the East v West matches were curtailed.

Resurrection

The West of Scotland District and East of Scotland District representative sides have recently been re-surrected at age-grade levels. These matches are now used as trial matches to identify candidates for the Scottish Rugby Academy and potential Glasgow Warriors, Edinburgh Rugby and Scotland stars of the future. [6]

Notable former players

Scotland Internationalists

Related Research Articles

James Stewart Carrick was a Scottish rugby union and cricket player. He died in Seattle, Washington in 1923.

Charles Douglas Stuart was a Scotland international rugby union player. He often added Junior to his name; to differentiate from his father who had a similar career path. His regular playing position was Forward.

Robert Ainslie was a Scotland international rugby union player. His playing position was Forward.

Colonel Sir Robert Campbell MacKenzie was a Scottish international rugby union player. He also served in the British Army.

David Somerville was a Scotland international rugby union player He also played for the Scotland national cricket team.

Scotland's District rugby union sides are provincial representative teams, that in the amateur era capped the best amateur players from their area's club sides to play inter-district matches and matches against touring sides. These districts still survive at amateur level playing in an amateur Inter-District Championship and age-grade. The professional teams Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh Rugby remain provincial sides based on the traditional districts.

The 1877–78 Scottish Districts season is a record of all the rugby union matches for Scotland's district teams.

The 1892–93 Scottish Districts season is a record of all the rugby union matches for Scotland's district teams.

The 1907–08 Scottish Districts season is a record of all the rugby union matches for Scotland's district teams.

The 1948–49 Scottish Districts season is a record of all the rugby union matches for Scotland's district teams.

The 1951–52 Scottish Districts season is a record of all the rugby union matches for Scotland's district teams.

The 1924–25 Scottish Districts season is a record of all the rugby union matches for Scotland's district teams.

West of Scotland District is a select provincial amateur rugby union team that draws its players from the West of Scotland.

Gussie Graham was a Scotland international rugby union player.

Nat Brewis was a Scotland international rugby union player. He became the 13th President of the Scottish Rugby Union.

William Masters was a Scotland international rugby union player.

Edwart Ewart was a Scotland international rugby union player.

John Dobson was a Scotland international rugby union player. He played at the Hooker position.

Norm Suddon was a Scotland international rugby union player. He played as a Prop.

Arthur Laing was a Scotland international rugby union player.

References

  1. ↑ "East v West age-grade teams announced for decisive inter-national".
  2. ↑ https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000164/19120105/135/0007
  3. ↑ https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000060/18760228/032/0006 – via British Newspaper Archive.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. ↑ "History". Glasgow Warriors.
  5. ↑ https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000540/18780218/176/0007 – via British Newspaper Archive.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. ↑ "East v West age-grade teams announced for decisive inter-national".
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.