rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...
team that played their home games at the
Mayfield Playing Fields
Mayfield Playing Fields, in Dundee, Scotland, is one of the sports grounds for the High School of Dundee and the home ground of rugby clubs Dundee High Rugby and its junior side, Dundee Eagles. It is situated 1.5 miles from the city centre, on A ...
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
. The club disbanded in 2021.
The team was founded in 1880 by former pupils of the
High School of Dundee
The High School of Dundee is an independent, co-educational, day school in Dundee, Scotland, which provides nursery, primary and secondary education to just over one thousand pupils. Its foundation has been dated to 1239, and it is the only priv ...
. The men's side played in ; the women's side, known as the Dundee Valkyries, played in the until 2021 when the club bought Morgan Rugby Club to form Dundee Rugby Club. Please see Dundee Rugby Club for future club information.
History
Beginnings
No doubt inspired by Abertay's Louis Auldjo, Dundee's first international rugby player, who had represented
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
against
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
at
the Oval
The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since ...
in
1878
Events January–March
* January 5 – Russo-Turkish War – Battle of Shipka Pass IV: Russian and Bulgarian forces defeat the Ottoman Empire.
* January 9 – Umberto I becomes King of Italy.
* January 17 – Bat ...
, Dundee High School Former Pupils' Rugby Football Club was formed in 1880 by a group of schoolfriends and rugby aficionados, David Hynd, David Hutchison and Tom Ferguson, the principals of the affectionately monikered "Maryfield Gang" after the scrap of wasteland on which they would play after school. With no sport on the school curriculum in the 19th century, the boys passionately followed local teams Abertay and Red Cross and upon leaving school met in The Victoria coffee house on 23 November 1880 and decided to form their own team.
That meeting produced the first office bearers of the club:
1st XV
* Captain: David M Hutchison
* Sub-Captain and Secretary: Thomas C Ferguson
* Treasurer: David Hynd
* Committee: Herbert Bell, James Martin, David Robertson
2nd XV
* Captain: Alexander Hynd
* Sub-Captain: G. Stevenson
* Secretary: William Ross
The club changed to be no longer restricted to former pupils of the high school and was an open club.
Purchase
The club bought Morgan Academy RFC to form a new club Dundee Rugby in 2021. One of the main reasons for the purchase was to rescue both clubs and then to pretend it was a development plan to get the new club into the professional Super 6 league.
Sevens
The club ran the Dundee Sevens tournament. On the club's merger with Morgan in 2021 to form Dundee Rugby a new Sevens tournament began that year to announce the merger. The first winners of the Dundee City Sevens were Blazin’ Squad (Men) and the Howe Harlequins (Women).
Honours
Men's
*
Scottish National League Division One
The Scottish National League Division One (known as Tennent's National League Division 1 for sponsorship reasons) is the second tier of the Scottish League Championship for amateur rugby union clubs in Scotland.
The division was established in it ...
** Champions (2): 2005–06, 2008–09
*
Scottish National League Division Two
The Scottish National League Division Two (known as Tennent's National League Division 2 for sponsorship reasons) is the third tier of the Scottish League Championship for amateur rugby union clubs in Scotland.
The division was established in it ...
** Champions (2): 1989–90, 2002–03
* Orkney Sevens
** Champions (2): 2006, 2007
* Glasgow University Sevens
** Champions (1): 1996
* Glenrothes Sevens
** Champions (1): 1991
* Midlands District Sevens
** Champions (5): 1926, 1930, 1964, 1991, 1992
* Howe of Fife Sevens
** Champions (1): 1993
* Stirling Sevens
** Champions (1): 1970
Alasdair Dickinson
Alasdair Dickinson (born 11 September 1983) is a Scottish rugby union coach. He was previously a Scotland international rugby union player; and played for the clubs Edinburgh Rugby, Gloucester and Sale Sharks. He played as a prop.
Rugby Uni ...
Sean Lamont
Sean Lamont (born 15 January 1981) is a Scottish former international rugby union player and now Strength and Conditioning Coach. He played at centre and on the wing. He gained 105 caps for Scotland before retiring from international rugby in 2 ...
(105 caps)
* David Leslie (31 caps, Rugby World's Player of the Year 1984, 5 Nations Grand Slam winner)
*
Jon Petrie
Jonathan Michael Petrie (born 19 October 1976) is a Scottish rugby union executive and former player. During his active career he played at flanker for Glasgow Warriors and Scotland.
Petrie had two seasons in Scotland's under-21 team, making h ...
(45 caps)
* George Ritchie (1 cap, first ever DHSFP player to be capped in 1932)
*
Richie Vernon
Richie Vernon (born 7 July 1987) is a former Scotland international rugby union player with London Scottish. He previously was with Glasgow Warriors, playing for the Glasgow side over two spells. He has also previously played for the now defunc ...
(24 caps)
British and Irish Lions
*
Andy Nicol
Andrew Douglas Nicol (born 12 March 1971), is a former Scotland international rugby union player. A scrum-half, Nicol won 23 caps for Scotland and had brief spells as a replacement on two British & Irish Lions tours.
Rugby Union career
Amate ...
(23 Scotland caps, European Cup 1997/98, World XV v NZ 1993)
*
Chris Rea
Christopher Anton Rea ( ; born 4 March 1951) is an English rock and blues singer and guitarist from Middlesbrough. A "gravel-voiced guitar stalwart" known for his slide guitar playing, Rea has recorded twenty five solo albums, two of which t ...
Frank Hadden
Frank Hadden (born 14 June 1954) is a Scottish rugby union coach. He is a former head coach of Scotland and Edinburgh Rugby.
Hadden replaced Matt Williams and was appointed on 15 September 2005. Hadden coached the Merchiston Castle School 1st ...
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
international
*
Jacob Rauluni
Jacob Rauluni (born 25 June 1972) is a former International Rugby Union player who comes from a family of international halfbacks. His father, Taito, played halfback for Fiji, as did his brother Mosese and his first cousin Waisale Serevi, who als ...
USA
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...