With Scotland playing Ireland this Sunday at Old Anniesland it is suprising that to note that it all started at Parkhead

k.o this Sunday is`2.30 p.m.

The history of rugby league in Scotland goes back to 1909 when the touring Australian team played a match against England at Celtic Park, Glasgow. As football and to lesser extent rugby union were already well established in Scotland, rugby league did not make much of an impact, and until recently all Scottish rugby league players were converts from union. Only fourteen Scottish players made this switch prior to the ending of discrimination against playing rugby league, the most famous of whom was Dave Valentine, who captained Great Britain to World Cup victory in 1954.

In 1995, the full Scottish national team made its debut, losing narrowly to Ireland and later playing in the Emerging Nations section of the 1995 World Cup. Captained by Alan Tait they beat Russia and the U.S.A., before going down to eventual winners, the Cook Islands.

They were given full international status in 1996, which meant they were allowed to select as many professionals as they wished using the grandparent ruling, and subsequently took part in two very closely contested European Nations’ tournaments with France and Ireland.

Since 2002, Scotland A has participated in the Amateur Four Nations competition and toured Italy, the Netherlands and Serbia. Scotland has participated in the 2000 World Cup and the European Nations Cup (since 2003) competitions. Scotland's next scheduled match is against Wales on October 16, 2005.

This article was posted on 20-Oct-2005, 11:46 by Hugh Barrow.