1870–71 Home Nations rugby union matches

First international rugby union match

Raeburn Place
Scotland England 1 (2T 1G) 0 (1T)
Date	27 March 1871
Venue	Raeburn Place, Edinburgh
Referee	(called umpires) Dr Hely Hutchinson Almond (Scotland) and A Ward (England)
Attendance	4,000

The 1871 rugby union match between Scotland and England played on 27 March 1871 was the world's very first international rugby union match. The match was played at Raeburn Place, Edinburgh in front of 4,000 spectators. The match was won by Scotland which scored two tries and a goal to England's single try.

The match resulted from a challenge issued in the sporting weekly Bell's Weekly on 8 December 1870 and signed by the captains of five Scottish clubs, inviting any team "selected from the whole of England" to a 20-a-side game to be played under the Rugby rules. The game was played at Raeburn Place, Edinburgh, the home ground of Edinburgh Academicals, on 27 March 1871. The English team wore all white, with a red rose on its shirts and the Scots, brown shirts with a thistle and white cricket flannels.Three international matches played according to Association Football rules had already taken place at the Oval, London, in 1870 and 1871.

The team representing England was captained by Frederick Stokes of Blackheath, that representing Scotland was led by Francis Moncrieff; the umpires were Hely Hutchinson Almond, headmaster of Loretto School in Scotland, and A. Ward from England.

The game, played over two halves, each of 50 minutes, was won by Scotland, who scored a goal with a successful conversion kick after grounding the ball over the goal line (permitting them to 'try' to kick a goal). Both sides achieved a further 'try' each, but failed to convert them to goals, as the kicks were unsuccessful.Angus Buchanan was the first man to score a try in international rugby.

In a return match at the Kennington Oval, London, in 1872, England were the winners.

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