| Full name | Edinburgh Rugby | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Gunners | ||
| Founded | 1996[1] | ||
| Location | Edinburgh, Scotland | ||
| Ground(s) | Murrayfield Stadium [2] (Capacity: 67,130) | ||
| Chairman | Jim Calder [3] | ||
| CEO | Craig Docherty [4] | ||
| Coach(es) | Michael Bradley | ||
| Captain(s) | Greig Laidlaw | ||
| Most caps | Andrew Kelly(125) | ||
| Top scorer | Chris Paterson (773) | ||
| Most tries | Tim Visser (29) | ||
| 2010–11 | 8th | ||
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| Official website | |||
| www.edinburghrugby.org | |||
Edinburgh Rugby (formerly Edinburgh Reivers, Edinburgh Gunners) is one of two professional rugby union teams in Scotland competing in the RaboDirect Pro12 League along with Glasgow Warriors, their oldest rivals. Edinburgh currently play their home games at Murrayfield Stadium.
The original Edinburgh district team played the first ever inter-district match against Glasgow in 1872, winning the match 3–0.[5][6] The team were reformed in 1996 to compete in the Heineken Cup, their best performance coming in the 2003/04 tournament where they became the first Scottish side to reach the quarter-finals.[7][8][9]
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Edinburgh District played in the world's first ever inter-district match against Glasgow in 1872.[5][6]
With the game turning professional in 1995 the Scottish Rugby Union did not believe that Scottish club sides could compete against the best teams from France and England. They therefore decided that the four district teams were to be Scotland's vehicle for professional rugby and in 1996 the Edinburgh District team was reformed as Edinburgh Rugby to compete in the Heineken Cup. Due to the SRU's high debt, partly as a result of the redevelopment of Murrayfield Stadium, retrenchment was called for and the 4 professional sides were reduced to 2. After two seasons, Edinburgh were merged with the Border Reivers to form a team known as Edinburgh Reivers.
For the 1999 and 2000 seasons the Scottish Rugby Union and Welsh Rugby Union joined forces, with the expansion of the Welsh Premier Division to include Edinburgh Reivers and Glasgow Caledonians under the name Welsh-Scottish League. However further change was imminent and in 2001 an agreement was made between the Irish Rugby Football Union, Scottish Rugby Union and Welsh Rugby Union to create a new competition which would bring in the four Irish provinces. 2001 would see the very first incarnation of the Celtic League. In that inaugural season Edinburgh finished in sixth place in the league.
The following season, to coincide with the re-establishment of the Border Reivers, a Scottish League competition modelled on the Tri-Nations was introduced alongside the Celtic League, however this only survived for one season, Edinburgh becoming the only champions.
Following the reduction of Scotland's professional structure to two sides a rebranding took place. Edinburgh Reivers were simply titled 'Edinburgh Rugby' with the Glasgow Caledonians undergoing a similar renaming process as part of a "major revamp"[10] of the professional structure in Scotland.
In the 2003/2004 season the team found some success as they reached the inaugural Celtic Cup final – beating Cardiff Blues and Connacht en route in the quarter-finals[11] and semi-finals[12] respectively. The team's good run came to an end in final, however, with 21–27 loss to Ulster at Murrayfield. David Humphreys kicked 17 points in the match to earn the Irish province the trophy[13]
For the 2005/2006 season, Edinburgh found themselves looking for a new coach following the departure of Frank Hadden to coach Scotland.[14] Sean Lineen, then Glasgow Warriors assistant coach, was linked with the post[15] before Todd Blackadder acquired the position for the season[16] after a spell as interim coach.[17] During the same season the team nickname was incorporated into the official name, making them the Edinburgh Gunners. The term Gunners was dropped on 29 September 2006, after the club had become Scottish rugby's first private franchise during the summer, and the team reverted back to being known as just Edinburgh Rugby. One of the reasons for this reversion being that the word Gunners was already a registered Trademark of Arsenal Football Club.[6] Another being that the new owners wanted to rebrand the team in order to help provide a fresh new look, and to further aid this a new club logo was also introduced.
In 2006, it was announced that from the end of the 2005/6 season, Edinburgh would become a franchise. Finance was to come from a private company headed by businessmen Alex and Bob Carruthers.[18] This was thought to be a saving grace for Border Reivers. The team were thought to be favourites to be scrapped after the Scottish Rugby Union had warned that funding problems could force it to scrap one of its Celtic League sides.[19] The SRU were to retain a seat on the new company board and continue to provide funding and support to the new owners in development.[18] Following the departure of Todd Blackadder to join the Crusaders coaching setup in the Super 14, Lynn Howells was appointed as head coach by new executive chairman Alex Carruthers.[20]
In July 2007, a dispute arose between the Scottish Rugby Union and the owners of the newly-franchised Edinburgh team. According to owner Bob Carruthers the SRU owed Edinburgh a six-figure sum which had not been paid. Carruthers also claimed that SRU had threatened to pull the plug on funding should Edinburgh continue with legal action relating to the sum.[21] In the midst of the dispute Alex Carruthers resigned along with then Managing Director Graeme Stirling.[22] The dispute caused much disruption in Scottish rugby at the time, leading to the temporary withdrawal of 12 players from the Scotland squad training for the 2007 Rugby World Cup. This included leading players such as Chris Paterson and Mike Blair[22]
The dispute escalated when on 9 July 2007 Edinburgh revoked their associate membership of the SRU.[23] This led to doubts over whether Edinburgh could fulfill fixtures in the Celtic League and Heineken Cup and whether Edinburgh players were insured for playing at club level. The resignation was withdrawn on 12 July, with Bob Carruthers asking to "talk directly to someone" and insisting the proposed signing of Australia stand-off Stephen Larkham would go ahead.[24] Despite this, the dispute continued, with both sides initiating legal action against the other.[25][26] The situation was resolved in August 2007 with the termination of the franchise agreement and the return of Edinburgh to the direct control of the SRU.[27]
Following the return to SRU control the club coach Lynn Howells was dismissed. SRU head of player development was appointed interim coach and Nic Cartwright appointed Chief Executive.[27] Former British and Irish Lions captain Gavin Hastings was subsequently appointed Chairman[28] stating his "desire and passion to see this game and this club grow". The proposed signing of Stephen Larkham fell through after the SRU were unable to honour the terms of the agreement.[29] This was viewed as a disappointment at the time as the signing was considered a coup for the beleaguered SRU when the signing was initially announced.[30]
Following an application process[31] it was announced on 1 October 2007 that Andy Robinson, the former England head coach, would become the club's new head coach.[32] Edinburgh showed progress under Robinson, performing well at home in the Heineken Cup posting wins against Leinster[33] and Leicester Tigers[34] and a narrow loss to Toulouse, earning a bonus point.[35] Following disappointing performances by Scotland in the 6 Nations, and Robinson co-coaching Scotland A,[36] there were rumours of Robinson taking a post within the Scotland set-up after helping Edinburgh to climb to 3rd in the Celtic League.[37][38] This progress, however, was counter-pointed by some disappointing results including being shutout by Cardiff Blues at Murrayfield [39] and losing the 1872 Challenge Cup on aggregate to rivals Glasgow Warriors.[40]
On 26 December 2008 the a new home record attendance of 12,534 was set against Glasgow Warriors.[41] In the 2008/2009 season Edinburgh reached their highest position finishing in second place behind Munster.
Andy Robinson left in 2009 to take up the position of head coach of the Scottish national side. Rob Moffat took over at Edinburgh. Michael Bradley is the new manager for 2011/12.
|
Hookers Props |
Loose Forwards Half Backs |
Centres Back Three |
|
Forwards |
Backs |
|
Forwards |
Backs |
| Season | Pos | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996/1997 | Pools | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | [50] |
| 1998/1999 | Pools | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | [51] |
| 1999/2000 | Pools | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | [52] |
| 2000/2001 | Pools | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | [53] |
| 2001/2002 | Pools | 6 | 1 | 4 | 1 | [54] |
| 2002/2003 | Pools | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | [55] |
| 2003/2004 | QFs | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | [56] |
| 2004/2005 | Pools | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0 | [57] |
| 2005/2006 | Pools | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | [58] |
| 2006/2007 | Pools | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0 | [59] |
| 2007/2008 | Pools | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | [60] |
| 2008/2009 | Pools | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | [61] |
| 2009/2010 | Pools | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | [62] |
| 2010/2011 | Pools | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0 | [63] |
| Season | Pos | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997/1998 | Pools | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | [64] |
| Season | Pos | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001–02 | Pools | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| 2002–03 | QFs | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 |
| 2003–04 | 10th | 22 | 9 | 13 | 0 |
| 2004–05 | 7th | 20 | 9 | 11 | 0 |
| 2005–06 | 5th | 20 | 11 | 9 | 0 |
| 2006–07 | 8th | 20 | 8 | 11 | 1 |
| 2007–08 | 4th | 18 | 9 | 6 | 3 |
| 2008–09 | 2nd | 18 | 11 | 7 | 0 |
| 2009–10 | 6th | 18 | 8 | 10 | 0 |
| 2010–11 | 8th | 22 | 8 | 13 | 0 |
| Season | Pos | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002–03 | 1st | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 |
| Season | Pos | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999–2000 | 8th | 22 | 10 | 11 | 1 |
| 2000–01 | 8th | 22 | 11 | 11 | 0 |
| 2001–02 | 6th | 20 | 10 | 8 | 2 |
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