By David van der Merwe
Scotland's rugby history dates back to 1871. On 27 March 1871 at Raeburn Place, Scotland played against England in the first ever International rugby match to take place. Scotland won the game 1-0. They have competed in every Five Nations tournament since the start in 1883. Scotland have been the outright champions 14 times and shared the spoils a further 8 times.
Scotland won the last 5 Nations championship in 1999 before Italy joined the competition to make it the 6 Nations in 2000. In the last 12 years scotland couldn't win the tournament and have struggled to get into the top 4. They have beaten all other teams in the 5/6 Nations in one season on 3 occasions giving them the grand slam. This was in 1925, 1984 and 1990. They have also managed to beat all 3 other Home Nations to give them the Triple Crown on 10 occasions.
Scotland has competed in every World Cup played since the inception in 1987. Their best ever finish in the World Cup was 4th place in 1991 when they lost in the 3rd place play-offs to the All Blacks. In all the other competitions except the 2011 World Cup they have reached the Quarter-Finals. 2011 saw their worst performance as they could win only 2 of their 4 group games and losing 13-12 to Argentina and 16-12 to England saw them leave the competition.
They are pinning their hopes for the 2012 Six Nations on Andy Robinson as coach and Ross Ford will captain the following squad of players:
- Ross Ford Hooker 53Caps
- Dougie Hall Hooker 37Caps
- Scott Lawson Hooker 29Caps
- Geoff Cross Prop 8Caps
- Alasdair Dickinson Prop 24Caps
- Allan Jacobsen Prop 60Caps
- Ed Kalman Prop 0Caps
- Euan Murray Prop 41Caps
- Jon Welsh Prop 0Caps
- Richie Gray Lock 16Caps
- Jim Hamilton Lock 34Caps
- Alastair Kellock Lock 36Caps
- Fraser McKenzie Lock 0Caps
- Tom Ryder Lock 0Caps
- John Barclay Flanker 32Caps
- Kelly Brown Flanker 49Caps
- Rob Harley Flanker 0Caps
- Ross Rennie Flanker 11Caps
- Alasdair Strokosch Flanker 23Caps
- David Denton Number 8 1Caps
- Richie Vernon Number 8 15Caps
- Mike Blair Scrum-half 75Caps
- Chris Cusiter Scrum-half 55Caps
- Rory Lawson Scrum-half 30Caps
- Greig Laidlaw Scrum-half 2Caps
- Phil Godman Fly-half 23Caps
- Ruaridh Jackson Fly-half 11Caps
- Dan Parks Fly-half 66Caps
- Duncan Weir Fly-half 0Caps
- Joe Ansbro Centre 9Caps
- Nick De Luca Centre 29Caps
- Sean Lamont Centre 60Caps
- Graeme Morrison Centre 32Caps
- Simon Danielli Wing 32Caps
- Max Evans Wing 24Caps
- Lee Jones Wing 0Caps
- Stuart Hogg Fullback 0Caps
- Rory Lamont Fullback 26Caps
They will have everything to play for and nothing to lose as they try and better on performances of the last 12 years. Other than trying to win the 6 Nations, Scotland will at the same time try and win back the Calcutta Cup from current holders England. The Calcutta Cup is the oldest international rugby competition dating back to 1879. Only the United Hospitals Cup is older dating back to 1874. South Africa's Currie Cup, dating back to 1892 is a close third in this group of respected and fiercely contested competitions older than 100 years.
If Scotland can find the tryline unlike in the 2011 seasons they stand a chance to upset teams like Ireland and France. If they can't do this however they will most likely compete against Italy for the Wooden Spoon. I do believe that they do have the ability to win at least 2 of their 5 games, but it won't be easy. I for one however can't wait to see Scotland play even if it is to only hear: "Flower of Scotland". To me one of the most beautiful anthems around. Only the Irish national team song "Together Standing Tall" comes close.
Scotland Records:
Team:
First international:
(also the world's first)
Scotland 1 – 0 England 
(27 March 1871)
Largest Win:
Scotland 100 – 8 Japan 
(13 November 2004)
Largest defeat:
Scotland 10 – 68 South Africa 
(6 December 1997)
World Cup:
Appearances
7/7 (First in 1987)
Best result:
4th, 1991
Individual:
Most caps:
Chris Paterson (109)
Top scorer:
Chris Paterson (809)
Most tries:
Ian Smith, Tony Stanger (24)
Greatest XV
A Greatest Ever XV was selected by popular vote on the SRU's website:
15 Gavin Hastings
14 Andy Irvine
13 Alan Tait
12 Jim Renwick
11 Roger Baird
10 John Rutherford
9 Gary Armstrong
8 Derek White
7 Finlay Calder
6 John Jeffrey
5 Scott Murray
4 Gordon Brown
3 Iain Milne
2 Colin Deans
1 David Sole, captain
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