Away from the field, the exchanges between England and Scotland are courteous but teasing.

Before the clash in the Six Nations Tournament scheduled for February 6, the English rugby federation chose to post a nostalgic message on Twitter this week: "Hey, the Scottish federation, can you believe that our very first meeting dates back 150 years to? #Onsesentvieux ".

A golden opportunity for the Scottish Federation, who responded with this mischievous tweet: "Wow, how time goes by ... Remind us who won that day?"

Wow.

Time flies!

Remind us who won that day @EnglandRugby?

👀 https://t.co/d3SzsjOe4s pic.twitter.com/pQuUUwWVo3

- Scottish Rugby (@Scotlandteam) February 1, 2021

The result of this match played on March 27, 1871 in Edinburgh has been the pride of Scotland for nearly 150 years.

According to the newspapers, the Scots then won this match in front of several thousand people.

At the time, the way of counting points was irrelevant and the end result of 1 to 0 kick didn't mean much.

The rules were also very different, with teams of 20 players and halves of fifty minutes.

But this match remains in history as the first international meeting played under the "Rugby Rules", just like the name of the Scotsman Angus Buchanan, the first player to have scored a try in an international match.

The meeting took place just two months after the official creation of the Football-Rugby Federation (RFU), responsible for codifying and structuring this sport derived from football in England.

English legend has it that a student at Rugby College, a town 120 kilometers from London, had the idea in 1823 to grab the ball in his hand during a game of football.

William Webb Ellis would thus have given life to a new discipline that would develop over the decades with the students of the prestigious Rugby School, which welcomed students from all over the United Kingdom.

Rugby football quickly gained popularity in Scotland.

And the 1871 meeting surprised the English, who did not expect to see so many audiences around the pitch created at Raeburn Place cricket stadium.

Scotland created its own federation two years later, followed by Ireland and then Wales.

These nations will then meet regularly within the framework of a British competition which will become in 1910 the Five Nations Tournament with the integration of France, then that of the Six Nations in 2000 with the participation of Italy.

The Calcutta Cup for the winner

"England and Scotland are neighbors and close rivals," Phil McGowan, curator of the World Rugby Museum located in London's Twickenham stadium, considered the temple of the discipline, told France 24.

"Scotland refer to England as the 'Auld Enemy' and they love beating England more than any other team. The fact that these teams were the first to play an international game is, I think, a motive of pride for both nations. "

To mark the anniversary of this historic event, the tournament organizers have logically chosen to program the England-Scotland poster from the first day.

The English will wear a white jersey on Saturday with a rose inspired by the one worn by their illustrious predecessors at the end of the 19th century, while the Scots will have embroidered on the chest, the name of the player corresponding to their position in 1871 .

𝟏𝟓𝟎 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐮𝐠𝐛𝐲



Each Scotland player in the starting XV on Saturday will have the corresponding name from the 1871 team embroidered on their shirt. # AsOne pic.twitter.com/heku6mx1PB

- Scottish Rugby (@Scotlandteam) February 4, 2021

As they have been doing since 1879, the two teams will compete in the Calcutta Cup, which is brought back into play on each new encounter between Scotland and England in the tournament.

"This is the oldest international football trophy in the world," said Phil McGowan, recalling that rugby has long been considered a form of football.

The Calcutta Cup has become accustomed to taking pride of place in the cupboard of the XV de la Rose, since the English have won this cup 71 times and the Scots only 40, the two teams having also drawn 16 times.

The English could not help but remind their next opponents that "the Calcutta Cup is doing well" in a message accompanied by a smiley.

Fair.

The # CalcuttaCup's looking good btw 😉



It feels like we should be reminiscing about the glory days ... like 1924 ⏮ #GrandSlam https://t.co/65dYgBfiDA pic.twitter.com/Zxl8ZBMAU7

- England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) February 1, 2021

The last victory of the Scottish XV over England dates back to 2018, in Edinburgh.

And if the Scots have not won in London since 1983, they came close to the feat in 2019 with a sparkling draw (38-38) on the lawn of the English.

They dream of course of signing a resounding feat at Twickenham on Saturday against formidable Englishmen, currently second in the world ranking of teams behind South Africa.

They will in any case count on an additional asset for this particular meeting, the memory of Angus Buchanan and his teammates victorious in 1871.

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