The return of the Men’s Scottish Varsity Match

We are delighted to announce the return of the Men’s Scottish Varsity Rugby Match for 2021.

Taking place on Saturday 25 September 2021 at the University of St Andrews the fixture will mark the return of what is believed to be the oldest Varsity match in the world.

The 2021 match will be played “behind closed doors” with each University receiving a small ticket allocation whichThe will be distributed to the friends and families of the players, other members of the Rugby Clubs and a small number of University students and staff.

The event will be live streamed at https://www.scottishvarsitymatch.com/ to allow students, staff and alumni from both University and wider community to enjoy the game in the comfort of their own home.

An Ancient Rivalry

Formed in 1857 and 1858, respectively, Edinburgh University RFC and the University of St Andrews RFC are two of the oldest rugby clubs in the world, with only Edinburgh Academical FC claiming a longer existence in Scotland. The fixture between the 2 clubs, dating back more than 160 years, is believed to predate the annual Oxford versus Cambridge Varsity Match.

The event was reintroduced in 2011 at the Richmond Athletic ground in London before returning home to the International Pitch at BT Murrayfield in 2014. Since it’s return, the fixture has attracted 10,000 to the home of Scottish Rugby, each year.

The Women’s Scottish Varsity match

Equality is at the heart of both the University of Edinburgh and University of St Andrews sporting ethos and both Universities are completely committed to supporting their women’s rugby programmes, women’s rugby and women’s sport.

Since the introduction of the Women’s Varsity match in 2014, it has become clear that there is a clear disparity between the two women’s teams, which has only been compounded by the impact of COVID19 on contact sport training.

We have therefore made the difficult decision, in consultation with, and supported by, both the Edinburgh and St Andrews Women’s Rugby Clubs, that to protect player welfare and safety we will be unable to stage a Women’s Varsity fixture this year.

Both Universities will be offering alternative support during this year to their respective clubs.