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'Edinburgh' are one of two professional rugby union teams in Scotland, the Glasgow Warriors being the other. They play at Murrayfield Stadium (capacity 67,500, although only the West Stand is open for Edinburgh matches), and their joint captains are Ally Hogg and Simon Cross.
History
Edinburgh played in the world's first ever inter-district match against Glasgow in 1872.
In 1996 they were reformed as Edinburgh Rugby to compete in the Heineken Cup as the Scottish Rugby Union did not believe that Scottish club sides could compete against the best teams from France and England.
Due to the SRU's high debt, partly as a result of the redevelopment of Murrayfield Stadium, retrenchment was called for. After two seasons, Edinburgh were merged with the Border Reivers to form a team known as 'Edinburgh Reivers'. From the 2001/2002 season, the Reivers label was dropped and the team simply became 'Edinburgh Rugby', nicknamed the "Gunners". For the 2005/2006 season, the nickname was incorporated into the team's official name, making them the 'Edinburgh Gunners'. The term Gunners was dropped on 29 September 2006 and the team reverted back to being known as just Edinburgh, one of the reasons for this reversion being that the word ''Gunners'' is already a registered Trademark of Arsenal Football Club. Edinburgh drop Gunners from title
The issue of crowd sizes returned at the 1999 World Cup, by which time a Welsh/Scottish League had been established - essentially the Welsh First Division plus the two Scottish sides, the Edinburgh Reivers and the Glasgow Caledonians. Edinburgh achieved the highest finish by a Scottish side in the competition, finishing sixth in the 2001/2002 season, the last in which Scottish sides participated. The following season, to coincide with the re-establishment of the Border Reivers, a Scottish League competition modelled on the Tri-Nations was introduced, however this only survived for one season, Edinburgh becoming the only champions.
The Celtic League, begun in the autumn of 2001, has been a more attractive competition for players and public alike.
Edinburgh's best achievements to date came in the 2003/2004 season, when they reached the final of the Celtic Cup and became the first Scottish side to reach the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup.
Scotland's first private franchise
In 2006, it was announced that from the end of the 2006/7 season, Edinburgh would become a franchise. Finance was to come from a private company headed by businessmen Alex and Bob Carruthers. Previously the Scottish Rugby Union had warned that funding problems could force it to scrap one of its Celtic League sides. The SRU were to retain a seat on the new company board and continue to provide funding and support to the new owners in development. Edinburgh to become a franchise
In July 2007, a dispute arose between the Scottish Rugby Union and the owners of the newly-franchised Edinburgh team. According to owner Bob Carruthers the SRU owed Edinburgh a six-figure sum which had not been paid. Carruthers also claimed that SRU had threatened to pull the plug on funding if Edinburgh went ahead with court action relating to the recovery of this sum. [1]
This led Edinburgh to resign from the SRU, and it was feared that this would prevent the team from being able to fulfil their Magners League and Heineken Cup fixtures.[2]. However, Edinburgh withdrew their notice of resignation a short time later and were re-admitted to the SRU.
[3].
Despite this, the dispute continued, with both sides initiating legal action against the other. The situation was resolved in August 2007 with the termination of the franchise agreement and the return of Edinburgh to the direct control of the SRU.
[4].
Coaches - past and present
★ Iain Rankin - later team manager, left in 2003
★ Bob Easson - now with the Scottish Institute of Sport
★ Frank Hadden - now the Scotland national team coach
★ Todd Blackadder - interim coach, also a former player, left in 2006
★ Lyn Howells - took over on 17th September 2006, dismissed on 10th August 2007
★ Henry Edwards - now in a second spell as interim coach, also formerly forwards coach and currently SRU head of player development
International Players - past and present
★ Todd Blackadder (New Zealand) - retired in 2005
★ Mike Blair (Scotland)
★ Dave Callam (Scotland)
★ Rob Dewey (Scotland) - left for Ulster in 2007
★ Marcus di Rollo (Scotland)
★ Phil Godman (Scotland)
★ Dougie Hall (Scotland) - left for Glasgow Warriors in 2007
★ David Hewett (New Zealand) - retired in 2007
★ Nathan Hines (Scotland) - left for Perpignan in 2005
★ Duncan Hodge (Scotland) - retired in 2007
★ Ally Hogg (Scotland)
★ Allan Jacobsen (Scotland)
★ Gavin Kerr (Scotland)
★ Brendan Laney (Scotland) - left for Yamaha Jubilo in March 2005
★ Francisco Leonelli (Argentina) - left for Glasgow Warriors in 2006
★ Lucio Lopez Fleming (Argentina) - left in 2007
★ Ander Monro (Canada) - left for Waterloo RFC in 2006
★ Scott Murray (Scotland) - left for Montauban in 2007
★ Chris Paterson (Scotland) - left for Gloucester in 2007
★ Mike Pyke (Canada) left for Montauban in 2006
★ Craig Smith (Scotland)
★ Hugo Southwell (Scotland)
★ Simon Taylor (Scotland) - left for Stade Francais in 2007
★ Simon Webster (Scotland)
Magners League 2006/2007
Results
Final Table
| Pos | Team | P | W | L | D | F | A | Diff | T | B | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ospreys | 20 | 14 | 6 | 0 | 461 | 374 | 87 | 49 | 8 | 64 |
| 2 | Cardiff Blues | 20 | 13 | 6 | 1 | 447 | 327 | 120 | 53 | 9 | 63 |
| 3 | Leinster | 20 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 472 | 376 | 96 | 53 | 11 | 61 |
| 4 | Llanelli Scarlets | 20 | 12 | 8 | 0 | 490 | 417 | 73 | 61 | 9 | 57 |
| 5 | Ulster | 20 | 11 | 8 | 1 | 423 | 310 | 113 | 45 | 9 | 55 |
| 6 | Munster | 20 | 12 | 8 | 0 | 379 | 294 | 85 | 37 | 6 | 54 |
| 7 | Glasgow Warriors | 20 | 11 | 9 | 0 | 434 | 419 | 15 | 42 | 5 | 49 |
| '8' | 'Edinburgh' | '20' | '8' | '11' | '1' | '335' | '423' | '-88' | '31' | '8' | '42' |
| 9 | Newport Gwent Dragons | 20 | 8 | 12 | 0 | 353 | 362 | -9 | 36 | 7 | 39 |
| 10 | Connacht | 20 | 4 | 14 | 2 | 326 | 474 | -148 | 29 | 6 | 26 |
| 11 | Border Reivers | 20 | 2 | 18 | 0 | 201 | 545 | -344 | 16 | 4 | 12 |
Heineken Cup 2006/2007
Edinburgh were drawn in Pool 2 along with fellow Celtic League side Leinster, French side SU Agen and English side Gloucester. Leinster advanced to the quarter finals as pool winners.
Results
| Date | Home Team | Score | Away Team | Score | Venue | Match Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 20th 2006 | SU Agen | 19 | Edinburgh | 17 | Stade Armandie | [25] |
| October 29th 2006 | Edinburgh | 25 | Leinster | 24 | Murrayfield | [26] |
| December 9th 2006 | Gloucester | 38 | Edinburgh | 22 | Kingsholm | [27] |
| December 17th 2006 | Edinburgh | 14 | Gloucester | 31 | Murrayfield | [28] |
| January 13th 2007 | Leinster | 49 | Edinburgh | 10 | Donnybrook | [29] |
| January 19th 2007 | Edinburgh | 7 | SU Agen | 19 | Murrayfield | [30] |
Final Pool Table
:
| Winner of each pool, plus two highest-ranked second-place teams, advance to quarterfinals |
:
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | TF | PF | PA | +/- | BP | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leinster | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 21 | 174 | 97 | +77 | 5 | '21' |
| SU Agen | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 119 | 119 | 0 | 1 | '17' |
| Gloucester | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 19 | 152 | 144 | +8 | 3 | '15' |
| Edinburgh | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 9 | 95 | 180 | -85 | 1 | '5' |
Statistics
Heineken Cup
| Season | Pos | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996/1997 | Pools | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 1998/1999 | Pools | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| 1999/2000 | Pools | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| 2000/2001 | Pools | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 2001/2002 | Pools | 6 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| 2002/2003 | Pools | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| 2003/2004 | QFs | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 |
| 2004/2005 | Pools | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| 2005/2006 | Pools | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| 2006/2007 | Pools | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
European Challenge Cup
| Season | Pos | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997/1998 | Pools | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
Welsh/Scottish League
| Season | Pos | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999/2000 | 8th | 22 | 10 | 11 | 1 |
| 2000/2001 | 8th | 22 | 11 | 11 | 0 |
| 2001/2002 | 6th | 20 | 10 | 8 | 2 |
===Celtic League===
| Season | Pos | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001/2002 | Pools | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| 2002/2003 | QFs | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 |
| 2003/2004 | 10th | 22 | 9 | 13 | 0 |
| 2004/2005 | 7th | 20 | 9 | 11 | 0 |
| 2005/2006 | 5th | 20 | 11 | 9 | 0 |
| 2006/2007 | 8th | 20 | 8 | 11 | 1 |
Scottish League
| Season | Pos | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002/2003 | 1st | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 |
See also
★ Scottish Rugby Union
★ Celtic League
★ Heineken Cup
★ European Challenge Cup
Notes and references
Hogg and Cross to share Edinburgh captaincy 'stv' website, 25 June 2007.
External links
★ Official site
★ Edinburgh video vault on Channel XV
★ Scottish rugby union fans forum
★ RugbyStuff - Rugby Store in Edinburgh
★ Edinburgh in dispute with SRU (from the BBC)
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