Scotland Rugby!!

26 February 2012

Today was a fantastic day! After being knocked out cold with a cold the last few days, I made sure that I was healthy enough to enjoy my first live sporting event in Scotland. My officemate, Rebecca, used to play rugby at Glasgow Uni and though some of her friends, was able to get tickets to the Six Nations rugby match between Scotland and France in Edinburgh. The Six Nations, if I haven't mentioned this before, is a tournament where each of six countries (England, Wales, Ireland [Northern and the Republic of], Scotland, France, and Italy) plays each other team once. The tournament started just after I got to Glasgow and it was my real introduction to the sport. Today's game was going to be good. Even though Scotland lost their first two matches to England (a rival not unlike U of Michigan vs. Ohio State) and Wales, they were going to be good competition for France who killed Italy in the first round and hadn't played since because their game against Ireland was cancelled.

I met Rebecca, some of the other rugby girls, and another officemate, Heather, down at the Queen Street Station, right off of St. George's Square in Glasgow's city center at 11am and we soon caught a train to Edinburgh. Now, a train had left not more than 15 minutes earlier for Edinburgh, and our train was still packed to the gills by the time we boarded. Five or so stops later, with people cramming into the train at each stop, everyone piled out at the Haymarket stop and started a long progression down the road to Murrayfield Stadium on the west end of town. Before going into the stadium, we first found a picnic table at one of the numerous hotels and cafés and pubs that were hosting parties with beer tents and cook-out-style food. We were well enough early for the start of the game, so we stuck around our table and drank some beers before wandering over to the stadium.

Once we started toward the stadium, it was almost like I was back in Ann Arbor walking down Hoover Street toward the Big House. People were waving flags and singing chants and some locals were playing bagpipes along the way, and nearly every guy was wearing a kilt! I've been told people here normally don't pull out their kilts except for special occasions, and I've decided that this game was one of the most special occasions of the year. We quickly ducked into one of the tents where they were selling rugby kits (aka jerseys) and polo shirts and other items so Heather and I could get something to fit in with the rest of the crowd. And after another beer stop, we headed up to our seats.

The stadium is kind of lopsided in that the western side of the stadium rises higher than the east side, enough so that if you're sitting high enough, you can see over the stadium's east side overhang. The teams were both lining up for the national anthems when we walked in and we made it just in time to hear the end of the French anthem and then got goosebumps while a huge bagpipe and drum corps played the Scottish anthem. It was pretty amazing because for the French, Edinburgh is no more than a quick plane ride away, and so the stadium was not for want of crazy dressed up fans from either side. We found our seats in row RR, waaaaay up in the top of the west side, and only then do you realize why the west side of the stadium sits so high: The view over the east side to the skyline of the city is spectacular! It's like a picture-perfect encapsulation of Edinburgh with tall church spires, the prominent Castle, and buildings of the city center all shadowed by the peak of Arthur's Seat, a large hill right in the middle of town that is the frozen core of a magma plug that has since been exposed through years of erosion. It was almost hard to focus on the match with that scenery in view!

Panorama of Edinburgh from Murrayfield Stadium

Rugby was fairly easy enough for me to pick up on a few weeks ago when I was first introduced. Essentially, one team tries to touch the ball down in their opponent's end zone for a try, which is worth 5 points. If the team makes the try, they are then able to attempt a conversion by kicking the ball through the uprights for another 2 points. Any time during regular play, if a team is close enough to their opponent's uprights, they can drop kick the ball through the uprights for 3 points. The team with the ball cannot pass it forward, and so to move down the field, they have to pass it sideways or backward to a teammate who can then try to charge down the field with the ball in hand. The play doesn't stop unless there is an injury and each half lasts 40 minutes. Obviously, there is a lot more to the game than that, but you get the idea...

No sooner had we found our seats and sat down did we have to get back on our feet because Scotland made their first try and conversion, taking the lead 7-0. They played really well, but not well enough because France came back with a try and conversion and then a series of successful drop kicks. Scotland came back in the second half with another try, taking the lead to 17-13. But France came back with another successful try and drop goal, and held Scotland off for the rest of the match, winning 17-23. The mood of the crowd was palpable and even though the French were raucous and, well, French, they kept the party to themselves and the Scots all left the stadium peaceably. But the rugby wasn't the only excitement during the game. Sometime in the second half, a Frenchman decided to hop out onto the field with nothing but a flag flying above his head. He streaked from one end of the field to the other and halfway back again before security could catch him. It gave us all a good laugh!

Following the game, we went to a few different pubs for a few more beers and some food, and while some of our group stayed out a while longer, Heather and I headed back to the train station to get our ride back to Glasgow. It was a fantastically fun day and I'm glad I was healthy enough to go!