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| Full name | RHC Cougars Rugby Football Club |
|---|---|
| Emblem(s) | Cougar head |
| Founded | 2003 - merged team 1868 - RHSFP ? - Corstorphine RFC |
| Ground(s) | Union Park |
| League(s) | Scottish National League Division 1 |
| Official website | |
| [http://www.rhcrugby.com www.rhcrugby.com] | |
RHC Cougars are a rugby union side based in Edinburgh, Scotland.
The team were established in 2003 from the merger of Corstorphine and Royal High rugby clubs, two separate clubs based in the west side of Edinburgh.
The team currently play their home games at Union Park and compete in Scottish National League Division 1.
The team has recently branded itself from being Royal High Corstorphine RFC.
Corstorphine-Royal High RFC is an Edinburgh rugby union club, formed from the merger of Corstorphine RFC and the old Royal High School Former Pupils club (RHSFP, Royal HSFP, Royal High SFP etc). Although it is currently in Division ..., its historical connection with RHSFP makes it notable for several reasons, including the fact that it was a founder member of the Scottish Rugby Union, the second oldest national governing body in the world.
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Unlike RHSFP, this club represented the western Edinburgh suburb of Corstorphine rather than an FP club . They formerly played in pink strips.
The merged club uses Corstorphine RFC's ground at Carrick Knowe.
The Royal High School was formerly a major private school in central Edinburgh, but has since become a local authority school in north west Edinburgh.
The Royal High School was playing a form of "football" by 1810 (the word "football" here referring to a handling code, rather than one like soccer).[1] The Royal High played the first inter-school match with Merchiston in 1858.[2] The Royal High FP club was formally organised in 1867,[3] and was a founder member of the Scottish Football Union (future SRU) in 1873.
| “ | That Act of Council in 1851, which freed our Saturdays, should be held in high esteem by all our all our athletes, for it is the Magna Carta of our Cricket and Football Clubs. It rendered possible the formation of a Cricket Club in 1861, to be followed seven years later by a Football Club.[4] | ” |
The RHS Rugby Football Club was formed in 1868.[5] These clubs were pioneered by former and attending pupils, who originally played their games together.[4] Among the celebrated student founders of cricket and rugby football at the school were Taverner Knott and Nat Watt, who undertook their labours with the encouragement of Thomson Whyte, reportedly the first master to take a serious interest in sport at the school.[4] The sporting clubs were formally integrated into the school body when, in 1900, at the request of the club captains, two masters undertook the management of cricket and rugby.
Historically, RHSFP was much stronger, and produced players such as Mark Coxon Morrison (sometimes considered the best Scottish captain ever, and a member of the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame), and Pringle Fisher.[6] Mark Morrison was capped 1896, and went to win twenty three caps.[7] Angus Buchanan of Royal High School FP, was the first person to score a try in international rugby.
Bill McLaren recalls being chosen for a Scottish XV against the British Army for a game at Murrayfield on 15 February 1947, which contained two RHSFP players: T.P.L. "Tom" M'Glashan and D.T. McLean.[8] Tom M'Glashan, was being still selected for Scotland in 1954, as the front row of a pack which contained three Macs, the others being Hugh McLeod and Bob MacEwen.[9]
For a while, they came to be located on the east side of the city, on the opposite side from the school's present location, at Jock's Lodge. This put them in competition with Portobello RFC, Musselburgh, Leith and Trinity Academicals for local talent.
Lismore RFC was founded by former RHSFP players.[10]
RHC have a very successful Women's team who play in the Scottish Women's Premier League. They boast several current and former Lionesses and Scotland players.
Royal High School FP players:
Former Corstorphine Legends
Both still playing when selected
Scotland Women Internationals:
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