 | |||
| Union | Scottish Rugby Union | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Emblem(s) | The Thistle | ||
| Coach(es) |  Peter Horne | ||
| |||
| First match | |||
Scotland 'A' 39–7  Spain (1990) | |||
| Largest win | |||
Scotland 'A' 99–0  Netherlands (1999) | |||
| Largest defeat | |||
Scotland A 3–60  Ireland A (1 March 2002) | |||
The Scotland A team are the second national rugby union team behind the Scottish national side. The first Scotland 'A' fixture took place in 1990.
Unlike association football, where the main team is supposed to be the "A" team, Scotland 'A' in rugby union is actually equivalent to the Scotland B football team. The Scotland 'A' side in rugby union is classed as a senior national side, along with the full national side and the Scotland 7s international side. When players play for any of these 3 senior sides; they commit their nationality to Scotland; and cannot then normally switch nationality to another international side. The parlance used deems these sides as 'capture' sides.
There was a history of national development sides in Scotland before the national 'A' side was introduced. The non-cap Scotland XV side started in 1969, the Scotland 'B' side introduced in 1971 was for uncapped players; and the start of the age-grade pathway sides - like the Under 21 side - which began in 1984.
Scotland's status as one of the leading rugby nations in the Northern Hemisphere, made the SRU look to field a second team, first known as Scotland XV, which can play at the same level, sometimes even superior, of many second and third tier nations first sides. This team was a development side and players selected were not given caps and not tied to Scotland.
The Scotland XV first played in 1969, beating an Argentina side 20 - 3. These non-cap matches have proven controversial and there was a campaign to get players that were capped by the Scotland XV side as full caps. However the campaign failed; and these XV matches remain non-capped matches.
Scotland XV represented Scotland during the 1999 Rugby World Cup – European qualification, easily defeating Portugal by 85–11, and Spain by 85–3, in Murrayfield.
The launch of the Scotland 'B' side in 1971 provided uncapped players another route for recognition; this was a development side; no fully capped players were eligible. [1] Like the Scotland XV side before it, this was not a 'capture' side.
The start of the Scotland age-grade teams in 1984 - on the launch of the national Under 21 side - were another pathway. Age-grade sides are not intended to be 'capture' sides; and their use as capture sides up to and including the Under 20 age-group range has now been banned by World Rugby.
The 'A' side was launched as the second senior men's side in 1990, with the intention of giving a more formal step up to international rugby.
The Scotland 'A' side and Scotland 'B' side ran concurrently between 1990 and 1992; and are not regarded as similar. Indeed, players like Ian Corcoran, Douglas Wyllie and Damian Cronin have both Scotland 'A' and Scotland 'B' caps.
The 'A' side is used as an official 'capture' side for securing residency or otherwise qualified players for Scotland's international selection. Unlike the Scotland 'B' side there is no bar on fully-capped players playing for the 'A' side, although fully capped players are usually restricted to a few in the squad selection; primarily to provide leadership to the other players.
Before the professional era, Scotland 'A' played against touring national sides from the southern hemisphere.
Peter Horne named a 23 man 'A' squad to face Chile on 23 November 2024, captained by Stafford McDowall. [2]
Note: Caps listed are full international caps.
Head coach: Peter Horne
They used to compete in the Churchill Cup alongside the full national teams of Canada and the United States as well as Ireland A, England Saxons, Argentina A and the New Zealand Māori.
They competed in the IRB Nations Cup, winning the competition in 2009 and ending last in 2010.
Sources: [3]
Watsonian Football Club is a rugby union club based in Edinburgh and part of the Scottish Rugby Union. The club is connected with George Watson's College as a club for former pupils, and changed its policy in the 1980s to be a fully open club, welcoming players of all abilities regardless of whether they attended the school or not. It is one of a small number of rugby union clubs entitled to call itself a 'football club', rather than a 'rugby football club'. Watsonians run a number of sides; the top male side plays in the FOSROC Super Series tournament, the Women's side plays in the Tennents Scottish Women's Premiership Scottish Rugby's Women's League
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England A is England's men's second national rugby union team. The team has previously been known by a number of names, such as England B, Emerging England and, most recently, England Saxons. England A play a key role in the development of emerging talent, allowing players to gain experience in an international environment and to show that they have the ability to perform at Test level for the England first team. England A were unbeaten for 13 games until losing to Ireland A, now known as Ireland Wolfhounds, in the 2009 Churchill Cup Final on 21 June 2009.
Howe of Fife RFC is a rugby union club based in Cupar, Fife, Scotland. It was founded in 1921, and they play in blue and white hoops. The men's first XV team currently competes in Scottish National League Division Three, the women's XV - known as Howe Harlequins - plays in Scottish Womens National One.
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The 2012 mid-year rugby union tests refer to the rugby union Internationals that were played through June, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere.
Peter Horne is a Scottish rugby union coach and the current assistant coach for Scotland. He previously was Head Coach of the Ayrshire Bulls and a Skills Coach for Glasgow Warriors. As a player he was a Scotland international rugby union player; and at club level he previously played for Glasgow Warriors for over a decade. At the time of his retirement he was the club's most capped back.
Kevin Bryce is a former Scotland international rugby union player who played as a Hooker for United Rugby Championship side Glasgow Warriors. He has also played at Tighthead Prop and Flanker and previously played for Edinburgh and Yorkshire Carnegie.
In June 2014, the Scotland rugby union team played single test matches against four countries; Argentina, Canada, South Africa and the United States. The opening three tests, United States, Canada and Argentina, coincided with the June international window, whereas the test against South Africa fell outside the international window. This meant players playing outside Scotland at club level were not permitted to be released by their clubs to represent Scotland against South Africa; Scotland effectively picked two separate squads, one for the USA and Canada games, the other for Argentina and South Africa.
In June 2014, Wales toured South Africa, playing a 2-test series against the Springboks. In addition to the two Test matches, Wales also played a warm-up uncapped match against domestic club side Eastern Province Kings. The three matches coincided with the June International Window, playing in the second and third week of the window.
The Scotland national B rugby union team was one of several national rugby union teams behind the Scottish national side. It was largely used as a development side and began in the era when Scotland had little in the way of an age-grade pathway.
George Horne is a Scottish professional rugby union player who plays as a scrum-half for United Rugby Championship club Glasgow Warriors and the Scotland national team.
The 2004–05 season is the ninth in the history of the Glasgow Warriors as a professional side. During this season the young professional side competed as Glasgow Rugby.
Grant Stewart is a Scotland international rugby union player who plays for Glasgow Warriors. He previously played for Connacht and Ayrshire Bulls. His usual position is at the Hooker position.
Kenneth Stafford Iain McDowall is a Scottish professional rugby union player who plays as a centre for United Rugby Championship club Glasgow Warriors and the Scotland national team.
The 2018–19 season saw Glasgow Warriors compete in the competitions: the Guinness Pro14 and the European Champions Cup.
This is a list of the complete squads for the 2019 Six Nations Championship, an annual rugby union tournament contested by the national rugby teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. Ireland were the defending champions.
The 2021–22 season will see Glasgow Warriors compete in the competitions: the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup.
Emerging Scotland is a Scottish international rugby union team that represents Scotland in selected matches, tours and competitions. Composed of Scotland qualified players only, mostly uncapped or at the beginning of their careers, it forms part of the development pathway to the senior Scotland team. It is not to be confused with the Scotland 'A', the national 'A' team which competes and is a level below the national side but with no age restrictions, nor with the Scotland U-20s with strict age limits that competes in the Under-20 Six Nations and Rugby World Cup.
