With the French match quickly approaching it is interesting to note that it was aginst the French that the Scots first wore numbers

In 1922 England played Wales in Cardiff and both teams used player numbering. Some other countries did not adopt it till much later e.g. Scotland who adopted it first in 1928 in a game against France. Interestingly enough the committee consulted a senior cap (John Bannerman of Glasgow High and Old Anniesland fame) afterwards to elicit the the views of the players and after the feedback was against it, they removed the numbers again until re-introducing them in 1933. When Scotland played England in the Calcutta cup at Twickenham in 1928 King George V asked a former president of the SFU James Aikman Smith (known as Napoleon) why Scotland were not wearing numbers and was told "This sir is a rugby match not a cattle sale". Numbers did not return to Scotland's jerseys until two years after Smith's death.

This article was posted on 2-Feb-2011, 14:49 by Hugh Barrow.