Scottish Exiles
Full nameScottish Exiles
UnionScottish Rugby Union
Founded1898 (1898)
League(s)Scottish Inter-District Championship
Team kit

Scottish Exiles is a rugby union representative team featuring players selected from the Scottish diaspora. Its players were mainly based in England and as result the team was originally known as the Anglo-Scots.[1] The team competed in the Scottish Inter-District Championship.

Formation

Formed as the Anglo-Scots it was treated by the Scottish Rugby Union as a distinct non-native District side.

Touring sides

The Anglo-Scots often played matches against international and non-international touring teams.

Scottish Inter-District Championship

The Scottish Inter-District Championship was established in the 1953–54 season. The Glasgow District, Edinburgh, South and North and Midlands sides would play off to see which district was best in Scotland. The Anglo-Scots District joined the Inter-District Championship from 1981.[2]

Change to Scottish Exiles

With many Scottish players now playing further abroad than England, notably in France, the team's name was changed to better reflect the diaspora it represented in 1993. The Exiles full-back at the time, Mark Appleson, who played for London Scottish, said the name-change now properly reflected the Scottish character of the squad and now suitably downplayed where the players were currently based, coming up with the notable line:[3]

It's great because people are less likely to think of us as Englishmen.

Effect of professionalism

With the advent of professionalism in 1995, the Scottish Rugby Union realised that not even the best semi-professional Scottish club teams could compete in the new Professional Era in rugby union, which was beginning to gain great momentum in the professional leagues of the Southern Hemisphere and the Northern Hemisphere.

In an attempt to stay in touch with the leading nations the SRU formed four professional teams out of the four native amateur districts of Scotland in 1996. It was these newly professional teams that would represent Scotland in the Heineken Cup and in the Celtic League.

This meant the Scottish Exiles side was then excluded from the subsequent professional Scottish Inter-District Championship, as its players were generally based in English professional sides.

The Scottish Exiles side still plays and is used as a gateway for recognition for Scottish-Qualified players, particularly in England, to signal their availability and desire to play for the Scottish national team.[4]

The side run a Scottish-Qualified programme to develop Scottish talent playing outwith Scotland.[5]

Honours

Won Scottish Inter-District Championship: 2 (Season 1994–95 and Season 1995–96).

These were the last two seasons before the Scottish professional rugby union era began in season 1996–97.

Season standings

Scottish Inter-District Championship

The Scottish Exiles, then as the Anglo-Scots, joined the Scottish Inter-District Championship in 1981.

They continued playing in the tournament until professionalism took hold in Scotland in 1996.

After 1996, the Scottish Inter-District Championship became a European Qualifying Tournament for the professional District sides. That meant that the Exiles could not join the Championship.

Scottish Inter-District Championship
Season Pos Pld W D L F A +/- BP Pts Notes
1981–82 3rd 31024644+2-2Match with North and Midlands invalid
1982–83 2nd 43016036+24-6
1983–84 3rd 42024643+3-4
1984–85 3rd 42027244+28-4
1985–86 3rd 42026758+9-4
1986–87 3rd 42024667-21-4
1987–88 3rd 42028458+26-4
1988–89 3rd 42028979+10-4
1989–90 2nd 43015851+7-6
1990–91 4th 41033555-20-2
1991–92 6th 20021650-34-0Abbreviated tournament - no winner
1992–93 5th 41035752+5-2
1993–94 - ---------Did not compete
1994–95 1st 440011951+68-8
1995–96 1st 440010050+50-8
Professional Era

The Amateur Scottish Inter-District Championship has been restarted twice in the professional era. The first restart was from 1999 to 2002; the second restart from the 2022-23 season.

Season Pos Pld W D L F A +/- BP Pts Notes
1999–2000 - ---------Did not compete
2000–01 1st 44008958+31117
2001–02 3rd 42029174+1719
2022–23 - ---------Did not compete

Partial list of games played against international opposition

  • 14 November 1979 Anglo Scots v New Zealand, Dundee
  • 21 September 1982 Anglo Scots v Fiji, Hughenden Stadium, Glasgow

Notable former players

Scotland Internationalists

Notable non-Scottish players

The following is a list of notable non-Scottish international representative former Scottish Exiles players:

Australia

South Africa

Wales

See also

References

  1. ↑ "From Murrayfield to Malaysia - Scottish rugby's talent search". BBC Sport.
  2. ↑ McMurtrie, Bill (2 December 1980). "Rugby title without a trophy". The Glasgow Herald. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
  3. ↑ "Rugby Union: Granny bonds Reed to Exiles' brotherhood". Independent.co.uk. 23 October 2011.
  4. ↑ "Scottish Exiles".
  5. ↑ "Scotland Men".
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