| Full name | Heriot-Watt University Rugby Football Club | |
|---|---|---|
| Location | Edinburgh, Scotland | |
| League(s) | Men: East Non-League Women: Scottish Womens Non-League | |
| 2019–20 | Men: East Non-League Women: Scottish Womens Non-League | |
| ||
| Union website | ||
| www | ||
Heriot-Watt University RFC is a rugby union club based in Edinburgh, Scotland. The club operates a men's team [1] and a women's team. [2] Both currently play in the university leagues.
Heriot-Watt University has a number of campuses in Scotland; and also one in Malaysia. Their Malaysian rugby union side are the Heriot-Watt Silverbacks. [3]
The Heriot-Watt campus at Galashiels holds the Scottish Rugby Academy regional academy for the Borders and East Lothian. [4]
Women's training takes place on Tuesday evenings from 5pm to 6.30pm at the Sports Academy. [5]
Men's training takes place on Monday and Thursday afternoons from 3.30pm and 4.30pm. [5]
There are 3 men's XVs. [5]
Heriot-Watt University is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and subsequently granted university status by royal charter in 1966. It is the eighth-oldest higher education institute in the UK. The name Heriot-Watt was taken from Scottish inventor James Watt and Scottish philanthropist and goldsmith George Heriot.
Heriot-Watt University Football Club is a football club based at Riccarton Campus, on the western fringes of Edinburgh. The club's first team plays in the East of Scotland League Second Division. Home matches are played on a 3G synthetic pitch within the John Brydson Arena on the university campus at Riccarton. In weekend competition, the club also enters a team into the Lowlands Under-20 Development League; and another into Lothian & Edinburgh Amateur Football Association competition.
Rugby union in Scotland is a popular team sport. Scotland's national side today competes in the annual Six Nations Championship and the Rugby World Cup. The first ever international rugby match was played on 27 March 1871, at Raeburn Place in Edinburgh, when Scotland defeated England in front of 4,000 people. Professional clubs compete in the United Rugby Championship, European Rugby Champions Cup and European Rugby Challenge Cup, while the Scottish League Championship exists for over 200 amateur and semi-professional clubs, as does a knock-out competition, the Scottish Cup. The governing body, the Scottish Rugby Union (SRU), is one of the ten first-tier member nations of World Rugby.
Glasgow University Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club at the University of Glasgow in Scotland. The men's side play in the university league; the women's side play in the Scottish Womens West One.
University rugby union in Scotland is predominantly organised through BUCS, the British Universities Sports Association. Unlike in England and Wales, where a pyramid system of 4 regions and a Premier above exists, the Scottish system is separate. However, Scottish universities do receive places in the end of season knock-out tournaments which decide overall British champions. However, due to the small size of the divisions, some Scottish universities organise teams to play in regional or national leagues as part of the general Scottish league system for clubs, the Scottish League Championship. In addition, some universities organise University Saturday Leagues for their 2nd XV, or they organise informal friendly matches. The following universities have teams playing elsewhere in Scottish Rugby:
Aberdeen University Sports Union (AUSU) is the sports union at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. It is a constituent part of Aberdeen University Students' Association. It is not responsible for facilities and rents time for its clubs from Aberdeen Sports Village.
Aberdeen University Rugby Football Club (AURFC) is the rugby union team at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. The men's team play in Caledonia North Three; the women's team play in the university leagues.
The Scottish National League was first played for in 1997 under the name The Scottish Conference before changing to its current name the following season and is the top tier domestic rugby league club competition in Scotland. It was renamed the Scottish RL Conference League between 2007 and 2011 and formed a division of the Rugby League Conference competition.
The Scottish Rugby Academy, for sponsorship reasons the Fosroc Scottish Rugby Academy, is a national academy structure designed to give Scotland's young rugby stars a pathway into the professional game.
Oriam is Scotland's national performance centre for sport, based at Heriot-Watt University's Riccarton campus in Edinburgh. The Scottish Rugby Union and the Scottish Football Association use it as a training facility, Heart of Midlothian F.C. rent the centre for first-team training and to run their academy. It is also used by other sports teams, students and members of the public.
The Scottish Rugby Academy provides Scotland's up and coming rugby stars a dedicated focused routeway for development into the professional game. Entry is restricted to Scottish qualified students and both male and female entrants are accepted into 4 regional academies. The 2020–21 season sees the sixth year of the academy, now sponsored by Fosroc.
Megan Gaffney is a former Scottish rugby union player. She is from Edinburgh and has competed internationally for Scotland since 2011. She has twice been selected for the Great Britain 7s training squad for the Rio and Tokyo Olympics. She retired from international rugby at the end of 2022.
Liz Musgrove is a Scottish rugby player from Edinburgh who has played in multiple Women's Six Nations Championships, including the 2021 Women's Six Nations Championship, despite only taking up the sport at the age of 20. She is also a Junior British Judo Champion.
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The 2022–23 East of Scotland Football League is the 94th season of the East of Scotland Football League, and the 9th season with its top division as part of the sixth tier of the Scottish football pyramid system. The season began on 30 July 2022. Tranent Juniors are the reigning champions but are unable to defend their title after gaining promotion to the Lowland Football League.
