Edinburgh vs St. Andrews men’s Varsity will be held behind closed doors tomorrow at 3pm

The ancient rivalry between St. Andrews and Edinburgh will continue tomorrow with the return of the Men’s Scottish Varsity Rugby Match.

Kick off is at 3pm, and will take place at St. Andrews behind closed doors. Each uni will receive a small ticket allocation which will then be distributed to the friends and families of the players, other members of the Rugby Clubs and a small number of university students and staff.

But, the women’s game – a regular feature of Varsity since 2014 – will not be being played “to protect player welfare and safety”.

The match will also be streamed from St. Andrews in Pleasance Cafe & Bar, Teviot Sports Bar, The Library Bar, and the Pear Tree. You can also stream the match from the comfort of your own home via the Scottish Varsity Matches website.

According to the Scottish Varsity website, the women’s game was called off due to differences between the Edinburgh and St Andrews teams.

“Equality is at the heart of both the University of Edinburgh and University of St Andrews sporting ethos and both Universities are completely committed to supporting their women’s rugby programmes, women’s rugby and women’s sport.

“Since the introduction of the Women’s Varsity match in 2014, it has become clear that there is a clear disparity between the two women’s teams, which has only been compounded by the impact of Covid-19 on contact sport training.

“We have therefore made the difficult decision, in consultation with, and supported by, both the Edinburgh and St Andrews Women’s Rugby Clubs, that to protect player welfare and safety we will be unable to stage a Women’s Varsity fixture this year.’

“Both Universities will be offering alternative support during this year to their respective clubs.”

The two clubs are some of the oldest in the world, with Edinburgh’s rugby club  being formed in 1857, and St. Andrews in 1858. The tradition is believed to be one of the oldest varsities in the world, with matches starting between the two universities in the 1860’s.

The varsity event was re-introduced in 2011 at the Richmond Athletic ground in London, before moving back to Scotland at the Murrayfield Stadium in 2014.

Varsity last took place in 2019, with 9,600 spectators attending the match at BT Murrayfield Stadium. Both Edinburgh’s male and female teams won against St. Andrews, with the former scoring 62-0 , and the latter 52-0.

Since the men’s matches started in 2011, Edinburgh have won 5 out of 9 matches, and the women’s team have won all their matches since the women’s fixture was introduced in 2014.

Photo taken by Vclaw, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons (edited)

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