The Scottish Varsity is an annualrugby union fixture between theUniversity of St Andrews and theUniversity of Edinburgh inScotland. In the Men's match, as of 2025, both St Andrews and Edinburgh are tied at seven victories each since the revival of the match in 2011. First played in the 1860s, it is the oldestvarsity match in the world in a code offootball.^[1][a]

Edinburgh University RFC was founded in 1857 and theUniversity of St Andrews Rugby Football Club the following year.^[5] Fixtures began in the 1860s, making this the oldestvarsity match in the world in a code offootball.^[1][b]

In 1873, the University of St Andrews RFC and the Edinburgh University RFC, along with six other clubs, were foundering members of theScottish Football Union (now, Scottish Rugby Union).Edinburgh University had joined theRugby Football Union in 1871 and renounced their membership to join the SFU.^[9]

The Scottish Varsity was resurrected in 2011 after a hiatus of over 50 years and was staged in London at the home ofLondon Scottish RFC in order to build alumni relations.^[10] In 2015, the match returned to Scotland inMurrayfield Stadium and drew a crowd of over 10,000 spectators.^[11] In 2021, the match was played atUniversity Park, the home ofUniversity of St Andrews RFC, due to Covid-19 pandemic crowd restrictions. The match is normally held in late September and has received coverage fromSky Sports, theBBC and IRB’s Total Rugby.^[12]

The match has been named after its sponsor,The Royal Bank of Scotland, since 2015,^[13] and has enjoyed popular support since the rivalry was renewed in 2011.^{[14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23]}

Varsity matches were initially held onSt. Andrew's Day but have been moved earlier to late September, they have attracted notable attendees including herRoyal Highness Princess Anne in 2012.^[24]

In 2014, the inaugural Women's Varsity Match took place in the form of a 7-a-side match; it continued to take place as a 15-a-side match until 2019.^[25] Edinburgh won all six matches played between 2014 and 2019.

• List of British and Irish varsity matches
• The Varsity Match

• University of St Andrews: Saints Rugby
• University of Edinburgh: Edinburgh University RFC

• University of St Andrews
• Student sport rivalries in the United Kingdom
• Rugby union competitions in Scotland
• Sport at the University of Edinburgh
• University and college rugby union in the United Kingdom

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