Edinburgh University RFC

This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (March 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Edinburgh University

Full name	Edinburgh University Rugby Football Club
Founded	1857; 167 years ago (1857)
Location	Edinburgh, Scotland
Ground(s)	Peffermill
President	Ruaidhri Power
Coach(es)	David Adamson
Captain(s)	James Boyle
Top scorer	Rob Cuthbertson
League(s)	East Non-League (Men) Scottish Womens Non-League (Women)
2019–20	East Non-League (Men) Scottish Womens Non-League (Women)
1st kit 2nd kit
Official website
rugby.eusu.ed.ac.uk
Union website
www.eulrfc.co.uk

Edinburgh University Rugby Football Club is a leading rugby union side based in Edinburgh, Scotland which currently plays its fixtures in the Edinburgh Regional Shield competition and the British Universities Premiership. It is one of the eight founder members of the Scottish Rugby Union. In the years prior to the SRU's introduction of club leagues in 1973 and the advent of professionalism in the 1990s, EURFC was a major club power and it won the 'unofficial' Scottish Club championship several times. It remains a club with an all-student committee, and is only open to students of the University of Edinburgh. The club runs a men's team and a women's team; both playing in the university leagues.

History

Established in 1857, the club now plays its home fixtures at the

 – in 2007 the two clubs replayed that fixture to celebrate the 150th anniversary of EURFC's founding using replica period kit, ball and complying to the older rules.

EURFC has produced 72 young full-international (for major

'The Flying Scot' from the 1920s who held the 5-nations try-scoring record for many years.

Many more of Rugby's international players worldwide played for the university prior to being capped from other clubs; these include Scotland and

club.

In 1871, Club member

J.L.H MacFarlane

.

In 1901, after winning the Scottish unofficial championship, the Club provided an extraordinary eight members of the Scotland XV to defeat Wales that February. These were Bedell-Sivright, A.B Flett, Alfred Fell, Alex Frew, W.H Welsh, F.M Fasson, A.B Timms, and A.W. Duncan. Of these, Alex Frew not only won three Scotland caps from EURFC but also captained South Africa in its first ever match against the touring British Lions on his lone appearance for that country in 1903. This was as a representative member of the Transvaal Province, where he had settled as a doctor after his Edinburgh graduation of 1902.

A great Rugby rarity happened in 1910 when EURFC player

club.

The club's fortunes waned in the 1930s, but a great revival took place in the 1950s, and 1960s when the Club finished runners-up in the Scottish Unofficial Championship twice in 1963–64 and 1966–67 – in the latter year 28 out of the 34 matches played were won and the club which led the competition in April which was quite enough to have won outright, was highly commended for sportingly arranging extra fixtures, one of which was lost to Hawick who then just won that championship. In this time, names such as contemporary Scotland internationals John Frame, Ian Smith (who went on to score the famous Scotland try that defeated South Africa in 1969), and Harry Rea (an Irish cap) were to the fore.

The last major international player from the club was Jock Millican, thrice capped in 1972–73. This was after the decision had been taken by the club's [all-student] committee to back the SRU proposal for a fully league system on the grounds that it would benefit Scottish rugby as a whole, but also in the full knowledge that this would inevitably pose great problems for the Club itself. Since 1973, only Phil Lucas has been capped internationally while playing for Barbados in 2009.

Until 1983, EURFC enjoyed regular home and away fixtures with

. In this time, EURFC also had regular fixtures with the University XV's of Durham, Newcastle, and other northern English Institutions. EURFC has often received and played against Clubs from all of the major Rugby playing countries

In the years 1973 until 2012, the Club retained a position within the top 36 clubs in the SRU league structure on Saturdays; occasional promotions into the Scottish Premiership were usually balanced by returns to the top end of the National League below. Wednesday afternoons saw fixtures in the Scottish Universities championship which was won many times and very many players represented the Scottish Universities XV. Memorable victories include; 2002 BUSA Shield competition with the final played in London, and the SRU'S Scottish HydroElectric Bowl competition was registered in 2009 with the final being played against

Premier North 'B' League at the first available opportunity; this inevitably saw a deeply reluctant departure from the SRU league structure to aid concentration on the enormous travelling requirements south of the border. The Club remains the only Scottish University at this level.

Sides

Men

In total EURFC runs four teams:
The 1st XV currently competes in BUCS Premier North A League.
The 2nd XV currently competes in BUCS Scottish 1A.
The 3rd XV currently competes in BUCS Scottish 3A.
The 4th XV currently competes in BUCS Scottish 4A. The 5th XV currently competes in the Edinburgh University Intramural League.

In the past, EURFC has also fielded an EURL (Edinburgh University Rugby League) team in the

competitions.

Women

Edinburgh University also has two ladies teams, run as separate club EULRFC. The first XV were 2009 semi finalists of the British Universities Championships, and have reached the quarter finals in both 2010 and 2011. They compete in the BUCS Northern Premier Division and Scottish Premier League. The 2nd XV team currently compete in the Scottish Universities Championship and the National Development League.

Touring

Edinburgh University RFC has a notable history of touring; 2004 tour to South Africa, a major tour to Japan was undertaken in 2008 where one of the games was televised. In June 2011, EURFC returned to a previously toured country in Brazil, celebrating 25 years since they had previously toured there, with two televised matches against the Brazil national rugby union team, one against a regionals side and another against Brazil's U23 side. As well as Japan and Brazil the club has also had sides in USA, Ireland, Canada, France, Australia, Argentina and Spain in recent years.

Notable former players

Men

Scotland International players

The following 55 members represented Scotland as full internationals as representative members of Edinburgh University RFC.

International players for other countries

The following 18 players represented other full international sides as representative members of Edinburgh University RFC

British & Irish Lions

Seven players have represented British & Irish Lions whilst still students representing the club:

• H. Brooks
  Three-quarter – 1888 British Lions tour to New Zealand and Australia
• Forward
   – 1888 British Lions tour to New Zealand and Australia
• David 'Darkie' Bedell-Sivright – 1903 British Lions tour to South Africa (toured but no test caps); 1904 British Lions tour to Australia and New Zealand (captain)
• C.G. 'Charlie' Timms – 1910 British Lions tour to South Africa
• William Albert Robertson – 1910 British Lions tour to South Africa
• Angus Black – 1950 British Lions tour to New Zealand and Australia
• Ranald Macdonald – 1950 British Lions tour to New Zealand and Australia

Other notable former players

• Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
  , author
• Douglas Robb, schoolmaster, President of EURFC 1993

Women

Scotland International players

• Lucy Winter

Honours

Men

• Scottish Unofficial Championship
  • Champions (6): 1899–1900 (shared with Edinburgh Academicals & Hawick), 1900–01, 1901–02 (shared with Watsonians), 1902–03 (shared with Glasgow Academicals), 1907–08, 1911–12 (shared with Watsonians)
• Jed-Forest Sevens
  • Champions (1): 1911^[1]
• Walkerburn Sevens
  • Champions (1): 2011^[2]
• Edinburgh Institution F.P. Sevens^[3]
  • Champions (1): 1909
• Edinburgh Charity Sevens^[4]
  • Champions (2): 1941, 1946
• Highland Sevens^[5]
  • Champions (2): 1951, 1952
• Preston Lodge Sevens^[6]
  • Champions (1): 2007
• Dreghorn Sevens^[7]
  • Champions (1): 2012
• Stewartry Sevens^[8]
  • Champions (2): 1995, 1996
• Musselburgh Sevens^[9]
  • Champions (1): 1955
• Scottish University Sevens^[10]
  • Champions (5): 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 2022

Women

• Colonsay Sevens^[11]
  • Champions (1): 2017

References

Bibliography

• Bath, Richard (ed.) The Scotland Rugby Miscellany (Vision Sports Publishing Ltd, 2007
  ISBN 1-905326-24-6
  )
• Godwin, Terry Complete Who's Who of International Rugby (Cassell, 1987,
  ISBN 0-7137-1838-2
  )
• Jones, J.R. Encyclopedia of Rugby Union Football (Robert Hale, London, 1976
  ISBN 0-7091-5394-5
  )
• Massie, Allan A Portrait of Scottish Rugby (Polygon, Edinburgh;
  ISBN 0-904919-84-6
  )
• Stevens, Ian Edinburgh University Rugby Football Club, A History 1999 Edinburgh University Sports Union (EU Press)
• https://web.archive.org/web/20110716022658/http://www.scrummagazine.com/news/if-the-cap-fits/
• https://web.archive.org/web/20110525083652/http://www.scottishrugby.org/community/content/view/3865/2/
• http://www.ed.ac.uk/news/all-news/011211-rugby

External links

• Official website