On This Day
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First international rugby union match, Scotland beats England 1-0 at Raeburn Place, Edinburgh

England and Scotland have been playing each other at rugby union since 1871 when Scotland beat England in the first ever rugby union international.

England and Scotland have been playing each other at rugby union since 1871 when Scotland beat England in the first ever rugby union international. A total of 143 matches have been played, with England having won 77 times, Scotland 47 times and nineteen matches have been drawn.

Apart from fixtures played in the Home Six Nations Championship competitions, two games have been played at the Rugby World Cup: the 1991 Semi-final and the 2011 Pool B fixture, both of which England were victorious. The sides also met in 1971 in a match to commemorate the centenary of the first match between the sides, which Scotland were victorious in both fixtures.

The 1938 Calcutta Cup match was the first live televised rugby international. It was broadcast by BBC Television.

Historical Significance

England and Scotland have been playing each other at rugby union since 1871 when Scotland beat England in the first ever rugby union international.

Events Before

  1. American lawman Wyatt Earp (21) weds Urilla Sutherland (20) in Lamar, Missouri, until her death in August of the same ye

    American lawman Wyatt Earp (21) weds Urilla Sutherland (20) in Lamar, Missouri, until her death in August of the same year

  2. American writer (Huckleberry Finn) Samuel Langhorne Clemens, pen name Mark Twain, (34) marries Olivia Langdon (24) in El

    American writer (Huckleberry Finn) Samuel Langhorne Clemens, pen name Mark Twain, (34) marries Olivia Langdon (24) in Elmira, NY

  3. Iowa ratifies the 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution, allowing suffrage for all races and colors

    Iowa ratifies the 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution, allowing suffrage for all races and colors

  4. Impressionist Painter Claude Monet (29) weds model Camille Doncieux in Paris

    Impressionist Painter Claude Monet (29) weds model Camille Doncieux in Paris

  5. The 15th Amendment to the US Constitution is adopted, guaranteeing the right to vote regardless of race

    The Fifteenth Amendment (Amendment XV) to the United States Constitution prohibits the federal government or any state from denying or abridging a citizen's right to vote "on account of race, color,…

Events After

  1. The Moerdijk railway bridge over Hollands Diep in South Holland opens, becoming the longest bridge in Europe at that tim

    The Moerdijk railway bridge over Hollands Diep in South Holland opens, becoming the longest bridge in Europe at that time

  2. Yohannes IV is crowned Emperor of Ethiopia in Axum, the first imperial coronation in Axum in over 200 years

    Yohannes IV is crowned Emperor of Ethiopia in Axum, the first imperial coronation in Axum in over 200 years

  3. German physicist and X-ray pioneer Wilhelm Röntgen (26) weds Anna Bertha Ludwig in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, until her dea

    German physicist and X-ray pioneer Wilhelm Röntgen (26) weds Anna Bertha Ludwig in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, until her death in1919

  4. New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art opens

    The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an encyclopedic art museum in New York City.

  5. Yellowstone becomes the world's first national park

    Yellowstone National Park is a national park of the United States located in the northwest corner of the state of Wyoming, with small portions extending into Montana and Idaho.

More from the 1870s

Belgium disbands its salt tax

Belgium disbands its salt tax

The Moerdijk railway bridge over Hollands Diep in South Holland opens, becoming the longest bridge in Europe at that tim

The Moerdijk railway bridge over Hollands Diep in South Holland opens, becoming the longest bridge in Europe at that time

Japan adopts the Gregorian calendar

Japanese calendar types have included a range of official and unofficial systems. At present, Japan uses the Gregorian calendar together with year designations stating the year of the reign of the…

New York City annexes the West Bronx

The boroughs of New York City are the five major governmental districts that compose New York City. They are the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island.

Frequently Asked Questions

What happened on March 27, 1871?
England and Scotland have been playing each other at rugby union since 1871 when Scotland beat England in the first ever rugby union international. A total of 143 matches have been played, with England having won 77 times, Scotland 47 times and nineteen matches have been drawn. Apart from fixtures played in the Home Six Nations Championship competitions, two games have been played at the Rugby World Cup: the 1991 Semi-final and the 2011 Pool B fixture, both of which England were victorious.
Why is First international rugby union match, Scotland beats England 1-0 at Raeburn ... significant?
England and Scotland have been playing each other at rugby union since 1871 when Scotland beat England in the first ever rugby union international.

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March 27 in HistoryYear 1871