Rugby's first test: 20-a-side and a-one goal win

The first Scotland international rugby union side which beat England in 1871. Photo / Supplied

Victories are so rare for Scotland these days that they will not hold back this morning in celebrating the 140th anniversary of the first test ever played.

March 27, 1871 was the date Scotland recorded a win against England in a 20-a-side encounter at Raeburn Place in Edinburgh. Back then, there was no recognised form of keeping score - Scotland were declared the winner on account of converting one of their two tries, hence winning one goal to nil.

The celebration isn't really for the win, it is about paying tribute to the men who got the teams together and started the process that has taken us to the verge of the seventh World Cup.

The story of how it all began and how rugby evolved is worth recounting. At the time, there were five Scottish clubs who jointly, through their respective captains, issued a challenge to the Football Association [the predecessor of the Rugby Football Union] to play a test match.

That was rejected but taken up by Blackheath Football Club secretary Benjamin Burns - ironically a Scot who also played in the game for England.

Alan Fyfe, current secretary of the Edinburgh Academical Club, the occupants of Raeburn Place, traced the career of Burns and believes he retired and possibly died in New Zealand.

"I don't know what he [Burns] was doing in England but he was later with the Oriental Banking Corporation in Yokohama, Shanghai and Australia and managed the Calcutta Branch until its close.

"He then went to New Zealand and was manager of the Colonial Bank at Christchurch until its amalgamation with the Bank of New Zealand, where he was when he retired."

Burns was also integral to another classic element of rugby history - the formation and ultimate collapse of the Calcutta Football Club.

On Christmas Day 1872, a XX representing England played a team of Scots, Irish and Welsh in the Indian city of Calcutta. This led to the formation of the Calcutta Football Club in January 1873, which quickly gained 137 members, largely due to the presence of a free bar.

But the climate was ill-suited to rugby and it became hard to find fixtures and players who drifted off to polo and cricket.

By 1878, the club had to wind down and a decision had to be made what to do with the ample funds accrued.

Club captain James Rothney wrote to the RFU asking if they would accept a trophy to be awarded for a challenge match each year.

"I now write to beg you to place the matter before the Committee of the Rugby Union and beg their kind acceptance of a Cup and also to enquire if the Committee would prefer one of Indian workmanship, or the money remitted for the purchase of a cup at home."

The response from RFU president AG Guillemard was emphatic: "The Committee accept with very great pleasure your generous offer of the cup as an international challenge cup to be played for annually by England and Scotland - the cup remaining the property of the Rugby Football Union."

And since 1879, England and Scotland have played for the Calcutta Cup on 118 occasions. England have won 64 times and Scotland 39, with 14 draws.