Royal High School Former Pupils is a

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

club based in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. Royal HSFP was a founder member of the

Scottish Rugby Union The Scottish Rugby Union (SRU; ) is the Sport governing body, governing body of rugby union in Scotland. Now marketed as Scottish Rugby, it is the second-oldest Rugby Union, having been founded in 1873. The SRU oversees the national league sys ...

, the second oldest national governing body in the world. The original club was disbanded in 2003 when it merged with

Corstorphine RFC Corstorphine Cougars RFC is an Edinburgh rugby union club. Formed in 1950, the club represented the western Edinburgh suburb of Corstorphine. In 2017 the club was rebranded as Corstorphine Cougars. The Women's side play in , the Men's side play i ...

but the merged club Royal High Corstorphine broke back into two clubs in 2017. These new clubs were known as

Corstorphine Cougars Corstorphine Cougars RFC is an Edinburgh rugby union club. Formed in 1950, the club represented the western Edinburgh suburb of Corstorphine. In 2017 the club was rebranded as Corstorphine Cougars. The Women's side play in , the Men's side play i ...

and Barnton RFC. Barnton RFC was the start of an attempt to revive the old Royal HSFP side. The club is now known as "Royal High RFC".

History

School

The Royal High School is a school in Edinburgh with origins traceable to the 12th c at the Abbey of Holyrood, subsequently run by the City of Edinburgh. The school gives its name to High School Yards off Infirmary Street, where it was located before moving to the familiar Thos. Hamilton classical Greek building on Calton Hill at Regent Road which it occupied until July 1968, when it moved to new premises at East Barnton Avenue in the western side of Edinburgh near Davidson's Mains. Coeducation commenced in Sept 1976 and the school remains the Local Authority school for that area to date. The history is documented by Ross in a definitive work, William C. A. Ross, the Royal High School (Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd, 1934)

Rugby Union in the school

The Royal High School was playing a form of "football" by 1810 (the word "football" here referring to a handling code, rather than one like

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

). The Royal High played the first inter-school match with

Merchiston Merchiston ( ) is a residential area around Merchiston Avenue in the south-west of Edinburgh, Scotland. Location Merchiston Avenue is southwest of the West End of Edinburgh's principal street, Princes Street. Other areas near Merchiston inc ...

in 1858. The Royal High School's rugby club was formed in 1868. These clubs were pioneered by former and attending pupils, who originally played their games together. Among the celebrated student founders of cricket and rugby football at the school were Taverner Knott and Nat Watt, who undertook their labours with the encouragement of Thomson Whyte, reportedly the first master to take a serious interest in sport at the school. The sporting clubs were formally integrated into the school body when, in 1900, at the request of the club captains, two masters undertook the management of cricket and rugby.

Foundation of Former Pupils side

The Royal High School Former Pupils club was formally organised in 1868, and was a founder member of the Scottish Football Union (future SRU) in 1873. Historically, RHSFP was much stronger, and produced players such as

Mark Coxon Morrison Mark Coxon Morrison (2 April 1877 – 10 May 1945) was a Scotland, Scottish international rugby union footballer who captained both Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland and the British and Irish Lions. Rugby Union career Amateur caree ...

(sometimes considered the best Scottish captain ever, and a member of the

Scottish Sports Hall of Fame The Scottish Sports Hall of Fame is the national sports hall of fame of Scotland, set up in 2002. It is a joint project organised by sportscotland, the national governmental body for Scottish sport, and National Museums Scotland. It is also funded ...

), and Pringle Fisher. Mark Morrison was capped 1896, and went to win twenty-three caps.

Angus Buchanan Angus Buchanan may refer to: * Angus Buchanan (VC) (1894–1944), English recipient of the Victoria Cross * Angus Buchanan (rugby union) (1847–1927), Scottish international rugby and cricket player * Angus A. Buchanan (1861–1914), merchant and ...

of Royal High School FP, was the first person to score a try in international rugby. :"''Royal High, also a force in the nineteenth century, have had a similar history. They have continued to produce good players, but seldom good teams. They had a brief spell in the First Division, but never looked like establishing themselves. In recent years, the link between school and club has been broken... Royal H.S.F.P. have recently found difficulty in retaining the best players to come out of the Royal High School. Neither

Colin Telfer Colin McLeod Telfer (born 26 February 1947, in Hawick)player profile
at scrum.com. Retrieved ...

nor Gordon Hunter ever played for them, though both worked in Edinburgh; Ivan Tukalo left Royal High for Selkirk in the summer of 1983 after the club lost its First Division place.''"(Massie) Royal HSFP hosted its first

rugby sevens Rugby sevens (commonly known simply as sevens, and originally seven-a-side rugby) is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players playing seven-minute halves, instead of the usual 15 players playing 40-minute halves. R ...

tournament in 1920.

Bill McLaren William Pollock McLaren (16 October 1923 – 19 January 2010) was a Scottish rugby union commentator, teacher, journalist and one time rugby player. Known as "the voice of rugby", he retired from commentating in 2002. Renowned throughout th ...

recalls being chosen for a Scottish XV against the British Army for a game at

Murrayfield Murrayfield is an area to the west of Edinburgh city centre in Scotland. It is to the east of Corstorphine and north of Balgreen, Saughtonhall and Roseburn. The A8 road (Scotland), A8 road runs east–west through the south of the area. Murra ...

on 15 February 1947, which contained two RHSFP players: T.P.L. Tom M'Glashan and D.T. McLean.McLaren, p. 37 Tom M'Glashan, was being still selected for

in 1954, as the front row of a pack which contained three Macs, the others being Hugh McLeod and

Robert MacEwen Robert MacEwen (25 February 1928 – 28 August 2013) was a rugby union international who represented Scotland from 1954 to 1958. Early life Robert MacEwen was born in Oxford. Rugby union career MacEwen made his international debut on 9 Januar ...

Merger

The club merged with

in 2003 to form

Royal High Corstorphine RFC Royal High Corstorphine RFC is a former Edinburgh rugby union club, formed from the merger of the Royal HSFP and Corstorphine RFC. The merged club was dissolved in 2017 as two clubs:- Corstorphine Cougars and Royal HSFP. History Royal High ...

. However, the merger was short-lasting and the new club itself broke up in 2017.

Barnton RFC

A new club was formed from the old RHC Cougars side and given associate membership by the

. Barnton RFC is an attempt to revive the Royal HSFP club. The club was then rebranded under the similar name "Royal High RFC".

Grounds

Due to the historic association with the Abbey of Holyrood, the school had the use of two pitches at Holyrood, adjacent to the Place of Holyroodhouse and conveniently situated beneath the school on Regent Road. Five rugby pitches were maintained at Jock's Lodge, where the RHS 'Preparatory Department' was relocated in the 1930s. On relocation to Barnton in 1968, pitches were then available adjacent to the new building. Jock's Lodge is located on the east side of the city, on the opposite side from the school's present location. This put them in competition with Portobello RFC,

Musselburgh Musselburgh (; ; ) is the largest settlement in East Lothian, Scotland, on the coast of the Firth of Forth, east of Edinburgh city centre. It had a population of as of . History The name Musselburgh is Old English language, Old English in ...

Leith Leith (; ) is a port area in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith and is home to the Port of Leith. The earliest surviving historical references are in the royal charter authorising the construction of ...

and

Trinity Academicals Trinity Academicals RFC, nicknamed "Trinity Accies" or "T-Accs" is a rugby union club based in Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland, originally for the former pupils of Trinity Academy, Edinburgh. Trinity Accies competes in the . History Early days ...

for local talent.

Notable players

Scotland internationalists

The following former Royal HSFP players have represented

at full international level. * Alexander Petrie * Thomas McGlashan *

William Gibson William Ford Gibson (born March 17, 1948) is an American-Canadian speculative fiction writer and essayist widely credited with pioneering the science fiction subgenre known as cyberpunk. Beginning his writing career in the late 1970s, his ear ...

* Roger Davidson * Alexander Wood * Duncan MacLean *

Jack Park John Archibald Park (1879–1935) was a Scottish professional golfer. Park placed sixth in the 1899 U.S. Open, held 14–15 September 1899, at Baltimore Country Club in Baltimore, Maryland. Park also finished tied for ninth place in the 1901 ...

* Pringle Fisher *

* William Emslie * William Penman * William Ferguson

Edinburgh District

The following former Royal HSFP players have represented Edinburgh District at provincial level. * James Robertson * J. Junor * Alexander Petrie * M. Sanderson * Alexander Wood * G. F. Raynor *

* William Emslie

British and Irish Lions

The following former Royal HSFP players have represented the British and Irish Lions. *

Honours

Langholm Sevens Langholm Sevens is an annual rugby sevens event held by Langholm RFC, in Langholm, Scotland. The Langholm Sevens was the last of the Border Sevens tournaments to be instated in 1908. Held around the end of every April, the tournament is part of ...

** Champions (3): 1949, 1953, 1960 *

Melrose Sevens Melrose Sevens is an annual rugby sevens event held by Melrose Rugby Club, at The Greenyards in Melrose, Scotland. It is the oldest rugby sevens competition in the world, dating back to 1883 when the tournament was suggested by former Melros ...

** Champions (3): 1921, 1934, 1961 *

Hawick Sevens Hawick Sevens is an annual rugby sevens event held by Hawick RFC, in Hawick, Scotland. The Hawick Sevens tournament started in 1886 and is the third extant oldest Sevens tournament in the world; behind Melrose Sevens (1883) and Gala Sevens (188 ...

** Champions (3): 1914, 1938, 1962 *

Gala Sevens Gala Sevens is an annual rugby sevens event held by Gala RFC, in Galashiels, Scotland. The Gala Sevens was the second of the Border Sevens tournaments to be instated in 1884, just behind the Melrose Sevens in 1883. Held around the start of ever ...

** Champions (1): 1919 *

Jed-Forest Sevens Jed-Forest Sevens is an annual rugby sevens event held by Jed-Forest RFC, in Jedburgh, Scotland. The Jed-Forest Sevens was the fourth of the Border Sevens tournaments to be instated, in 1894, after the Melrose Sevens (1883), Gala Sevens (1884) a ...

** Champions (2): 1907, 1947 *

Peebles Sevens Peebles Sevens is an annual rugby sevens event held by Peebles RFC, in Peebles, Scotland. This was one of a group of Sevens tournaments instated after the First World War extending the original Borders Spring Circuit. The Peebles Sevens began i ...

** Champions (2): 1946, 1975 * Broughton Sevens ** Champions (1): 2022

SRU presidents

Former Royal High players have been President of the SRU: * 1879–80

* 1881–82 Alexander Petrie * 1902–03 Roger Davidson

Bibliography

* Bath, Richard (ed.) ''The Scotland Rugby Miscellany'' (Vision Sports Publishing Ltd, 2007 ) * Godwin, Terry ''Complete Who's Who of International Rugby'' (Cassell, 1987, ) * Ironside, Robert & Thorburn, Alexander M.C. Thorburn, ''Royal High School Rugby Football Club: Centenary 1868-1968'' (Edinburgh, Royal High School, 1968) * Jones, J.R. ''Encyclopedia of Rugby Football'' (Robert Hale, London, 1958) * Massie, Allan ''A Portrait of Scottish Rugby'' (Polygon, Edinburgh; ) * Ross, William C. A. ''The Royal High School'' (Edinburgh,

Oliver and Boyd Oliver and Boyd was a British publishing and printing firm that traded from 1807 or 1808 until 1990.

, 1934)

References

External links

Royal High Rugby
successor and current club

{{DEFAULTSORT:Royal HSFP RFC Rugby union teams in Scotland Rugby union in Edinburgh Sports clubs and teams in Edinburgh Rugby clubs established in 1868 Rugby clubs established in 2017 Sports clubs and teams disestablished in 2003 1868 establishments in Scotland 2017 establishments in Scotland 2003 disestablishments in Scotland