The University of St Andrews Rugby Football Club is an affiliated member of the

University of St Andrews Athletic Union (AIEN ARISTEUEIN) , established = 1901 , type = Athletic Union , president = Jess Smith , city = St Andrews , state = Fife , country = Scotland, UK , affiliations = British Universities and Colleges Sport Scottish Student Sport , webs ...

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

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 club runs four men's and two women's teams, which play in the university leagues.

History

It was founded in 1858, making it one of the

oldest football club The oldest football clubs trace their origins to the mid-19th century, a period when football evolved from being a casual pastime to an organised mainstream sport. The identity of the oldest football clubs in the world, or even in a particula ...

s in the world. In 2008, the club celebrated its sesquicentennial year, marking its 150th anniversary. The club is one of the founder members 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 ...

(SRU) and is often quoted as being the birthplace of 'running and passing' rugby, a distinct tactical advancement from the initial 'solo break/kick and chase' tactics which characterised the early years of the game's development. The club's 1st XV play their home games at University Park, in the British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) North Premier 2 North. In 2007, the 2nd XV were Scottish University Cup champions and currently play in

BUCS British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) is the governing body for higher education sport in the United Kingdom. BUCS was formed in June 2008 following a merger of British Universities Sports Association (BUSA) and University College Sport ...

Scottish Division 2A. In 2022, the 3rd XV won

Scottish 4A, and a 4th XV was started for the first time. On 24 March 2012 the 1st XV won the RBS Caledonia Division 2 Midlands title, beating Kinross 75–0 to lift the trophy. They were promoted to Caledonia League 1 three weeks later, beating Moray RFC, Caledonia 2 North Champions, 21–0. In the 2013–14 season, they won BUCS 1A Scotland unbeaten, winning 9 games from 9. The 1st XV also defeated Edinburgh for the first time at the annual Varsity Match since it has been hosted at London Scottish's ground in Richmond. In the 2014–15 season, having pulled out of the regional league system, they only competed in BUCS leagues. The 1st XV won BUCS 1A Scotland again. In the 2021-22 season, the club were named Scottish University Sport Club of the Year after the men's 1st, 2nd and 3rd XVs all won their respective leagues. Notably the men's 1st XV also secured promotion to BUCS Premier 2 North and are currently on a two-game win streak in the Scottish Varsity Match against Edinburgh University.

Sevens

The club run the St. Andrews University Sevens tournament held annually every April. This is the largest student run sevens event in the country.

Notable former players

Men

St Andrews has produced 21 (Men's) international players: 19 for Scotland and 1 each for England and Ireland. Four of which have become

British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

Tyrone Howe Tyrone Gyle Howe (born 2 April 1971, Newtownards, Northern Ireland) formerly played in rugby union on the wing for University of St Andrews RFC, Ulster, Ireland and the British & Irish Lions. Howe was brought up in Dromore and attended Banbrid ...

, Duncan Macrae,

Chris Rea Christopher Anton Rea ( ; born 4 March 1951) is an English rock and blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, fie ...

and

Robert Stevenson Robert Stevenson may refer to: * Robert Stevenson (actor and politician) (1915–1975), American actor and politician * Robert Stevenson (civil engineer) (1772–1850), Scottish lighthouse engineer * Robert Stevenson (director) (1905–1986), Engl ...

. This means that St Andrews has produced more internationalists than any other Scottish university, bar

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

.Jones, p126 Notably, St Andrews provided three players for the first ever rugby international: * Robert Munro; *

Alfred Clunies-Ross Alfred Clunies-Ross (c.1851 – 28 February 1903) was a rugby union international who represented Scotland in the first international rugby match in 1871. Clunies-Ross, a Cocos Malay from a Scots family, was the first non-white rugby union in ...

; and *

J. S. Thomson John Shaw Thomson was a rugby union international who represented Scotland in the first international rugby match in 1871. Early life Thomson's father owned a clothing manufacturing business, Laird & Thomson, located in the Mile End area of ...

.Marshall, p144 Other subsequent international players include: * Peter Anton * David Bell * Kim Elgie, capped for Scotland, and also for South Africa at cricket. *

Cameron Glasgow Cameron "Cammy" Glasgow (24 February 1966, Bridge of Allan) is a former Scotland international rugby union player.Bath, p140

* C. C. P. Hill/Colin Hill *

Damian Hopley Damian Hopley (born 12 April 1970) is a former rugby union player for London Wasps and England. His position of choice was on the wing or in the centres. Background Born in South London, Hopley attended St Benedict's School in Ealing West ...

represented England 1993 - 1995 *

Rab Bruce Lockhart Rab Brougham Bruce Lockhart (1 December 1916 – 1 May 1990) was a Scottish soldier and schoolmaster, notable for his sporting career as a Scotland international at rugby union 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 ...

Hamish Scott Hamish Scott (17 February 1924 – 12 March 2010) was a Scotland international rugby union footballer. He played at Flanker and Number Eight. Rugby career Amateur career Born in Edinburgh, Scott was raised in St Andrews and attended the U ...

Ian Swan Ian Swan (14 July 1930 – 18 September 2004) was a Scottish international rugby union player. He played as a Wing. Rugby union career Amateur career He played rugby at Madras College, his school. Moving to University, he played rugby for S ...

* Alex Thomson * D. J. Whyte/David Whyte * J. S. Wilson

Women

Scotland

The following former St. Andrews University RFC players have represented Scotland at senior international level.

Honours

Men

The Scottish Varsity The Scottish Varsity, also known as The Royal Bank of Scotland Scottish Varsity Match due to sponsorship reasons, is an annual rugby union fixture between the University of St Andrews and the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. The universities ...

** Champions (6): 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2021, 2022 * St. Andrews University Sevens ** Champions (1): 1942 * Waid Academy F.P. Sevens ** Champions (2): 1992, 1995 * Midlands District Sevens ** Champions (5): 1929, 1954, 1958, 1963, 1965

References

;Sources * Bath, Richard (ed.) ''The Scotland Rugby Miscellany'' (Vision Sports Publishing Ltd, 2007 ) * Godwin, Terry ''Complete Who's Who of International Rugby'' (Cassell, 1987, ) * Jones, J.R. ''Encyclopedia of Rugby Football'' (Robert Hale, London, 1958) * Marshall, Francis, ''Football; the Rugby union game'', (1892) (London Paris Melbourne, Cassell and company, limited) * Massie, Allan ''A Portrait of Scottish Rugby'' (Polygon, Edinburgh; )

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:University Of St Andrews Rugby Football Club Clubs and societies of the University of St Andrews, Rugby

St Andrews St Andrews ( la, S. Andrea(s); sco, Saunt Aundraes; gd, Cill Rìmhinn) is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fou ...

Rugby union in Fife 1858 establishments in Scotland Scottish rugby union teams