The Scottish Varsity, also known as
The Royal Bank of Scotland
The Royal Bank of Scotland plc (RBS; gd, Banca Rìoghail na h-Alba) is a major retail and commercial bank in Scotland. It is one of the retail banking subsidiaries of NatWest Group, together with NatWest (in England and Wales) and Ulster Ba ...
Scottish Varsity Match due to sponsorship reasons, is an annual
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 its m ...
fixture between the
University of St Andrews
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and the
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
in
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
. The universities are both founders of the
Scottish Rugby Union
The Scottish Rugby Union (SRU; gd, Aonadh Rugbaidh na h-Alba) is the governing body of rugby union in Scotland. Styled as Scottish Rugby, it is the second oldest Rugby Union, having been founded in 1873. The SRU oversees the national league s ...
and varsity fixtures have been held since the 1860s, laying claim to the title of the "world's oldest varsity match".
The Scottish Varsity was resurrected in 2011 after a hiatus of over 50 years and was staged in London at the home of
London Scottish RFC
London Scottish Football Club is a rugby union club in England. The club is a member of both the Rugby Football Union and the Scottish Rugby Union. The club is currently playing in the RFU Championship. The club share the Athletic Ground wi ...
in order to build alumni relations. In 2015, the match returned to Scotland in
Murrayfield Stadium
Murrayfield Stadium (known as BT Murrayfield Stadium for sponsorship reasons, or popularly as Murrayfield) is a Rugby stadium located in the Murrayfield area of Edinburgh, Scotland. It has a seating capacity of 67,144 making it the largest sta ...
and drew a crowd of over 10,000 spectators. In 2021, the match was played at
University Park, the home of
University of St Andrews RFC
The University of St Andrews Rugby Football Club is an affiliated member of the University of St Andrews Athletic Union in Fife, Scotland. The club runs four men's and two women's teams, which play in the university leagues.
History
It was fou ...
, due to Covid-19 pandemic crowd restrictions. The match is normally held in late September and has received coverage from
Sky Sports
Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...
, the
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but have been moved earlier to late September, they have attracted notable attendees including her
In 2014, the inaugural Women's Varsity Match took place in the form of a 7-a-side match. It now continues to take place every year as a 15-a-side match.