St Andrews win the 2024 Men’s Scottish Varsity Match

Last Saturday saw the return of the Scottish Varsity Match and the next iteration of the ancient rivalry between Scotland’s two oldest university rugby clubs.

Playing for the first time at the Hive Stadium, home to Edinburgh Rugby, the Men’s 1st XVs from University of St Andrews and the University of Edinburgh took to the field in front of over 4,500 spectators.

With pre-match entertainment provided by The Accidentals a cappella group from St Andrews and the St Andrews Pipe Band, a lively crowd in full voice, and a highly competitive and entertaining game of rugby, the event once again showed us why this is the highlight of the Scottish University rugby calendar.

The match started with an easy penalty from St Andrews, allowing Edinburgh to clear within the first 30 seconds. Fly-half Luc McNally-Drew cleared to give Edinburgh a lineout on halfway, allowing them to set up a lovely move in midfield and get over halfway, but the ball was spilled and possession conceded. St Andrews won the scrum 30m out from the Edinburgh line but were subsequently turned over. McNally-Drew went on to miss the touch finder, allowing St Andrews to counterattack, but Edinburgh fullback Benjamin Rogers diffused the threat with a great aerial take. St Andrews turned the ball back over after a few phases and made good yards after a powerful run from inside centre David Macrae. Play became stagnant, and Edinburgh managed to turn the ball over in their own half. A pick-and-go by Number 8 Ben Ellis helped Edinburgh gain 10 metres, and some quick distribution saw the ball move into the hands of winger Jake Brunner, who took play up over halfway.

After a few minutes St Andrews managed to turn the ball over in midfield and looked to counterattack. A huge shot from McNally-Drew put St Andrews on the backfoot, slowing play down and allowing Edinburgh to reset. Seeing that play was going nowhere, St Andrews fly-half Christopher Schreuder tried a cross-field kick to the St Andrews winger, but Benjamin Rogers covered well and called the mark. McNally-Drew cleared the free-kick to halfway, and from the resulting St Andrews lineout, the attempted box kick from Saints scrum half Campbell Swanson was charged down by Edinburgh second row Hal Kennedy.

Edinburgh failed to capitalise on this broken play until a few phases later when they managed to turn the ball over. Shifting play to midfield, McNally-Drew stabbed a kick through, forcing St Andrews to dot the ball down over their own tryline. A skewed clearance effort by Schreuder allowed Edinburgh a scrum just 5m out from the St Andrews tryline. After numerous phases, Edinburgh openside flanker Alex Harrison powered over the tryline to open the scoring. An unsuccessful conversion attempt left the score at Edinburgh 5-0 St Andrews with 15 minutes gone.

Following the restart, St Andrews regained possession of the ball in the middle third of the pitch. A high shot from Edinburgh lock Mark Fyffe earned St Andrews a penalty, who chose to kick for 3 points. An unsuccessful kick attempt from Schreuder allowed McNally-Drew to clear, starting a round of kick tennis. Edinburgh decided to switch things up through McNally-Drew, who attempted a cross-field kick to Edinburgh left winger Jake Brunner. The bouncing ball was too quick, and it bobbled out inside the St Andrews twenty-two metre line. St Andrews fumbled the lineout and Edinburgh flanker Alex Harrison cleaned up, allowing Edinburgh a chance at a lineout on the St Andrews 5m line. Fyffe gets up highest and wins the lineout for Edinburgh, setting up a driving maul and forcing St Andrews to concede a penalty.

After multiple phases and another penalty conceded by the Saints, Edinburgh knocked the ball on and handed possession back over. St Andrews Number 8 Oliver Finlayson-Russell picked up from the back of the scrum and headed directly for McNally-Drew, but the Edinburgh Co-Captain fronted up and brought the backrower down. Still in their own territory, St Andrews decided to clear, but only as far as fullback Rogers, who collected the ball and started another round of kick tennis.

Edinburgh inside centre Joe Townshend spotted a gap and fought off multiple defenders to get close enough to the 15m line to allow scrum-half Freddie Nickalls to box kick Edinburgh out of their half. St Andrews regained possession and began to build phases and get up over halfway, but ended up spilling the ball, allowing Edinburgh hooker Freddie Deeks to recover. An attempted box kick by the Edinburgh half-back Nickalls was charged down. The resulting lineout was won by St Andrews, with flyhalf Schreuder breaking the line to put Edinburgh under pressure, but he was eventually brought down by Edinburgh blindside flanker Jarrod Binsted in a crucial tackle. Binsted’s effort came to no avail though, as the St Andrews forward pack barged over the tryline a few phases later to score their first try, with second row John Paterson coming up with the ball. The conversion was unsuccessful, leaving the scores at 5-5.

A short while after the restart, the Edinburgh hooker Freddie Deeks made a break in midfield and managed to get an offload away to winger Jake Brunner, taking Edinburgh into the St Andrews twenty-two. Quick hands by the Edinburgh backline ended in play taken into touch on the opposing wing, but the referee brought play back for a penalty, with McNally-Drew kicking for touch. St Andrews managed to turn the ball over, and kicked straight down the centre of the field, which Rogers bravely tidied up.

McNally-Drew was down with a foot injury, so the first set of Edinburgh substitutions occur- James Skuodas came on at fullback, with Benjamin Rogers shifted forward to fly-half.

Play restarted and Edinburgh won a penalty shortly after, which Benjamin Rogers converted to make it Edinburgh 8-5 St Andrews at half time.

St Andrews started the second half strongly, quickly earning a lineout on the Edinburgh twenty-two metre line, which they would have scored from, had it not been for the tackle of outside centre Alex Thom. Again, the best efforts of the Edinburgh defence weren’t quite enough, as Joe Van Hoffen went over the line a few phases later for St Andrews to make it a double for the Saints second row duo. This time, Schreuder was successful with the conversion, taking the score to Edinburgh 8-12 St Andrews.

Some ill-discipline from Edinburgh followed, seeing the team from the capital marched back 10 metres after conceding a penalty, which Saints flyhalf Schreuder duly converted to extend the lead to 7 points.

Edinburgh fought their way back, earning a lineout on the St Andrews twenty-two metre line. Edinburgh Number 8 Ben Ellis retrieved the ball and blindside flanker Jarrod Binsted mauled over the line. The conversion attempt bounced off the post, making the score 13-15 with 48 minutes gone.

Another 10 minutes pass with little action other than a penalty to the Saints, which Screuder slotted to take the score to 13-18 in favour of St Andrews.

The Edinburgh coaches decided it was time for a change, and Duncan Hood, Daniel Rhoda, Toby Ferneyhough and Jasper Benson entered the field. Immediately Benson was involved, making some strong metres from a midfield scrum. A few phases later and Benjamin Rogers put winger Luca Musat through a gap in midfield, but he was brought down moments before he could get the last pass away. Edinburgh won a penalty in the process, but the ball agonisingly hits the post again and bounces back into play.

St Andrews fly half, and Steven Sims Man of the Match, Christopher Schreuder successfully converted two more late penalty kicks to take the score to 13-24, and in turn sealed the fate of the 2024 Men’s Scottish Varsity Match.