As London gears up for the greatest show on earth the famous Scottish cap (the oldest international cap in world rugby) won by J W Arthur of Glasgow Accies sits proudly alongside Olympic exhibits at the RFU Museum in Twickenham
Arthur who captained Accies also played in the first ever inter city match of 1872
The other exhibit pictured makes mention of Ken Jones the Welsh flyer
Ken played against Scotland in the famous match of 1955 played at Murrayfield when a drop goal by Jimmie Docherty of Glasgow HSFP sealed a historic Scottish win ending Scotlands notorious losing streak of 17 matches in a row

The RFU Museum records

It is a Scotland cap from the first ever rugby international in 1871, that was awarded to J W Arthur. Arthur played seven seasons for 'Accies' and was capped for Scotland twice. He was also one of a small group of Scottish club players who instigated the first ever international match, writing to the Secretary of Blackheath:
"…we, representing the whole footballing interest of Scotland, hereby challenge any team selected from the whole of England, to play us a match, twenty a side Rugby rules".

The match was played at Raeburn Place in Edinburgh and saw the home side win by 1 goal and 1 try to England's 1 try. Arthur's cap is on display in the museum alongside Guillemard's 1871 England cap. They are the oldest international rugby caps in the world.





With the London Olympics imminent we’ve picked this running vest worn by a GB athlete in 1948, the last time the games were held in London.

The vest was worn by Jack Gregory, a rugby player who played for Bristol and made an international appearance for England against Wales in 1949.

He was also a member of the 1948 4 x 100 meter relay team which took the silver medal. The medals were briefly upgraded to gold when the winning American team was disqualified, but the winners were reinstated on appeal and the British runners had to be content with silver.
Alongside Jack Gregory in the relay team was legendary Welsh wing Ken Jones, Alistair McCorquodale; a talented rugby player and cricketer and John Archer; who also had a trial for England but subsequently broke his leg.

The vest will be on display throughout the summer as part of our Olympic-themed exhibition.

This article was originally posted on 13-Jul-2012, 10:12 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 15-Jul-2012, 18:36.