Scotland A national rugby union team

The Scotland A team are the second national rugby union team behind the Scottish national side.

Not to be confused with Scotland A national rugby league team.

Scotland A

Union	Scottish Rugby Union
Emblem(s)	the Thistle
Coach(es)	Shade Munro
1st kit 2nd kit
First match
Scotland XV  20–3 Argentina (13 September 1969)
Largest win
Scotland XV  85–3  Spain (5 December 1998)
Largest defeat
Scotland A  3–60 Ireland A (01 March 2002)

History

See also: History of rugby union in Scotland

Scotland's status as one of the leading rugby nations in the Northern Hemisphere, made the SRU look to field a second team, first known as Scotland XV, and currently as Scotland A, which can play at the same level, sometimes even superior, of many second and third tier nations first sides. Before the professional era, Scotland A played against touring national sides from the southern hemisphere. Scotland XV represented Scotland during the 1999 Rugby World Cup – European qualification, easily defeating Portugal by 85–11, and Spain by 85–3, in Murrayfield.

Unlike association football, where the main team is supposed to be the "A" team, Scotland A in rugby union is actually equivalent to the Scotland B football team.

Current squad

The 23-man squad to face the England Saxons on January 31, 2014.[1]

Head Coach: Shade Munro

Note: Bold denotes players that have played internationally for Scotland and Italics denotes players that have not played for the Scotland A side previously.

Note: Flags indicate national union as has been defined under WR eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-WR nationality.

Player Position Date of Birth (Age) Club/province Fraser Brown Hooker (1989-06-20) 20 June 1989 Glasgow Warriors Kevin Bryce Hooker (1988-09-07) 7 September 1988 Glasgow Warriors Ed Kalman Prop (1982-12-07) 7 December 1982 Glasgow Warriors Gordon Reid Prop (1987-03-04) 4 March 1987 Glasgow Warriors Grant Shiells Prop (1989-09-23) 23 September 1989 Newcastle Falcons Jon Welsh Prop (1986-10-13) 13 October 1986 Glasgow Warriors Ollie Atkins Lock (1988-08-12) 12 August 1988 Edinburgh Jonny Gray (c) Lock (1994-03-14) 14 March 1994 Glasgow Warriors Kieran Low Lock (1991-01-27) 27 January 1991 London Irish Rob Harley Flanker (1990-05-26) 26 May 1990 Glasgow Warriors Ally Hogg Flanker (1983-01-20) 20 January 1983 Newcastle Falcons Tyrone Holmes Flanker (1986-04-15) 15 April 1986 Glasgow Warriors Blair Cowan Number 8 (1986-04-21) 21 April 1986 London Irish Grayson Hart Scrum-half (1988-06-19) 19 June 1988 Edinburgh Henry Pyrgos Scrum-half (1989-07-09) 9 July 1989 Glasgow Warriors Tom Heathcote Fly-half (1992-02-11) 11 February 1992 Bath Mark Bennett Centre (1993-02-03) 3 February 1993 Glasgow Warriors Alex Grove Centre (1987-11-30) 30 November 1987 Worcester Warriors Byron McGuigan Centre (1989-04-20) 20 April 1989 Glasgow Warriors Dougie Fife Wing (1990-08-08) 8 August 1990 Edinburgh Richie Vernon Wing (1987-07-07) 7 July 1987 Glasgow Warriors Jack Cuthbert Fullback (1987-09-03) 3 September 1987 Edinburgh Greig Tonks Fullback (1987-05-20) 20 May 1987 Edinburgh

Competitions

They used to compete in the Churchill Cup alongside the full national teams of Canada and the United States as well as Ireland A, England Saxons, Argentina A and the New Zealand Māori.

They competed in the IRB Nations Cup, winning the competition in 2009 and ending last in 2010.

References

1. Munro to lead Scotland A

External links

• Scottish Rugby
• Nations Cup official site
• Scotland XV/A Official Games

See also

Men's National teams

Senior

• Scotland national rugby union team
• Scotland national rugby sevens team

Development

• Scotland B national rugby union team
• Scotland Club XV

Age Grades

• Scotland national under-21 rugby union team
• Scotland national under-20 rugby union team
• Scotland national under-19 rugby union team
• Scotland national under-18 rugby union team
• Scotland national under-17 rugby union team
• Scotland national under-16 rugby union team

Women's National teams

Senior

• Scotland women's national rugby union team
• Scotland women's national rugby union team (sevens)