Rugby union in Scotland

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Rugby union in Scotland" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (November 2012) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Rugby union in Scotland
Scottish fans watching a game against Romania at the 2007 Rugby World Cup
Country	Scotland
Governing body	Scottish Rugby Union
National team(s)	Scotland
First played	1858, Edinburgh
Registered players	38,500 [1]
Clubs	143 full member clubs and an additional 135 associate member clubs[2] (system)
National competitions
Rugby World Cup Six Nations Rugby World Cup Sevens World Rugby Sevens Series Edinburgh 7s
Club competitions
United Rugby Championship European Rugby Champions Cup European Rugby Challenge Cup League Championship Scottish Cup Borders Sevens Circuit

Rugby union in Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: aonadh rugbaidh) is a popular team sport. Scotland's national side today competes in the annual Six Nations Championship and the Rugby World Cup. The first ever international rugby match was played on 27 March 1871, at Raeburn Place in Edinburgh, when Scotland defeated England in front of 4,000 people. Professional clubs compete in the United Rugby Championship, European Rugby Champions Cup and European Rugby Challenge Cup, while the Scottish League Championship exists for over 200 amateur and semi-professional clubs, as does a knock-out competition, the Scottish Cup. The governing body, the Scottish Rugby Union (SRU), is one of the ten first-tier member nations of World Rugby.^[3]