Rugby union in Scotland
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.There is evidence for schoolboys playing a "football" ball game in Aberdeen in 1633 (some references cite 1636) which is notable as an early allusion to what some[who?]The original word translated as "goal" is metum, literally meaning the "pillar at each end of the circus course" in a Roman chariot race.Contrary to media reports in 2006 there is no reference to forward passing, game rules, marking players or team formation.[5] The world's oldest continual rugby fixture was first played in 1858 between Merchiston Castle School and the former pupils of The Edinburgh Academy.Previously there had been a domestic league that covered the country, the top division of which was essentially the elite of club rugby in Scotland.Over a period of time, these District divisions have been reformed and integrated into the Scottish rugby union system meaning that today, only four clubs do not have their first XVs in the interconnected league structure.The District sides traditionally drew together the best amateur players from clubs in a given area; and the Scottish Inter-District Championship was founded in 1953.The Celtic League has further expanded and is now known as the Pro14 and consists of Scottish, Welsh, Irish, Italian and South African sides.Attempts were made to find private backers for Glasgow or the Borders (although the only investors interested in the latter wanted to move it to Falkirk, Stirling or Aberdeen) but in the end neither of the teams could be sold.This caused much unrest in the Scottish Borders, as their team had been wound up only months before, when the SRU insisted it could not finance two pro-teams on its own.Scotland was guaranteed one place in the Champions Cup, awarded to the Scottish team that finished higher in the previous Pro12 season.Additionally, starting in 2015–16, the second Scottish team could potentially qualify through a play-off involving another Pro12 side and one each from the English Premiership and France's Top 14.With Pro12 adding two South African teams in 2017–18, leading to that competition adopting its current name of Pro14, the qualification system for the Champions Cup was changed.A seventh place in the Champions Cup is awarded to the winner of a play-off between the next best-placed eligible team (again excluding South African sides) from each conference.It is most popular in the Borders region where it is played widely, although even here ground is being lost to football, with professionalism and migration contributing to the challenges facing the game .Many clubs in the Scottish Borders have grandstands and city sides in Edinburgh and Glasgow also have seated, covered stands.
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