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Edinburgh
Full name	Edinburgh
Nickname(s)	Gunners
Founded	1872
Location	Edinburgh, Scotland
Ground	Murrayfield Stadium (nicknamed "The Castle" for Edinburgh matches)
Capacity	67,500 (12,464 for Edinburgh matches)
Chairman	Gavin Hastings
CEO	Nic Cartwright
Coach	Andy Robinson
League	Magners League
2006-07	8th
Home colours		Away colours

Edinburgh are one of two professional rugby union teams in Scotland, the Glasgow Warriors, Edinburgh's oldest rivals, being the other. Currently Edinburgh play their home games in the International Stadium, Murrayfield, with the stadium having been rebranded "The Castle" for Edinburgh matches this season.

For the 2007/08 season the club have named Ally Hogg and Simon Cross as the joint captains, and on 1st October 2007 they appointed former England, Rugby World Cup 2003 winning coach Andy Robinson as their new head coach. Robinson signed a three year contract with the club.

Contents 1 History 2 Scotland's first private franchise 3 Current Squad 4 Coaches - past and present 5 International Players - past and present 6 Magners League 2006/2007 6.1 Results 6.2 Final Table 7 Heineken Cup 2006/2007 7.1 Results 7.2 Final Pool Table 8 Statistics 8.1 Heineken Cup 8.2 European Challenge Cup 8.3 Welsh/Scottish League 8.4 Celtic League 8.5 Scottish League 9 External links 10 See also 11 Notes and references

Edinburgh played in the world's first ever inter-district match against Glasgow in 1872.

With the game turning professional in 1995 the Scottish Rugby Union did not believe that Scottish club sides could compete against the best teams from France and England. They therefore decided that the four district teams were to be Scotland's vehicle for professional rugby and in 1996 the Edinburgh District team was reformed as Edinburgh Rugby to compete in the Heineken Cup. Due to the SRU's high debt, partly as a result of the redevelopment of Murrayfield Stadium, retrenchment was called for. After two seasons, Edinburgh were merged with the Border Reivers to form a team known as Edinburgh Reivers.

For the 1999 and 2000 seasons the Scottish Rugby Union and Welsh Rugby Union joined forces, with the expansion of the Welsh Premier Division to include Edinburgh Reivers and Glasgow Caledonians under the name Welsh-Scottish League. However further change was imminent and in 2001 an agreement was made between the Irish Rugby Football Union, Scottish Rugby Union and Welsh Rugby Union to create a new competition which would bring in the four Irish provinces. 2001 would see the very first incarnation of the Celtic League. In that inaugural season Edinburgh achieved the highest finish by a Scottish side in the competition, finishing sixth.

The following season, to coincide with the re-establishment of the Border Reivers, a Scottish League competition modelled on the Tri-Nations was introduced alongside the Celtic League, however this only survived for one season, Edinburgh becoming the only champions.

With the reintroduction of the Border Reivers for the 2001/2002 season, the Reivers label was dropped by Edinburgh and the team simply became Edinburgh Rugby, nicknamed the "Gunners". For the 2005/2006 season, the nickname was incorporated into the team's official name, making them the Edinburgh Gunners. The term Gunners was dropped on 29 September 2006, after the club had become Scottish rugby's first private franchise during the summer, and the team reverted back to being known as just Edinburgh Rugby. One of the reasons for this reversion being that the word Gunners was already a registered Trademark of Arsenal Football Club ^[1]. Another being that the new owners wanted to rebrand the team in order to help provide a fresh new look, and to further aid this a new club logo was also introduced (see right).

In August 2007 the club returned to SRU control as the relationship between the new owners and the SRU broke down and the SRU bought the franchisee's out. This was followed by the appointment of a new chief executive for the club - Nic Cartright and then the appointment of former Scotland fullback and captain, Gavin Hastings, as chairman. In the transition back to SRU control the club had parted company with then head coach Lyn Howells, and on October 1st 2007 they announced the signing of former England coach Andy Robinson as the new head coach.

Edinburgh's best achievements to date came in the 2003/2004 season, when they reached the final of the Celtic Cup and became the first Scottish side to reach the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup.

In 2006, it was announced that from the end of the 2005/6 season, Edinburgh would become a franchise. Finance was to come from a private company headed by businessmen Alex and Bob Carruthers. Previously the Scottish Rugby Union had warned that funding problems could force it to scrap one of its Celtic League sides. The SRU were to retain a seat on the new company board and continue to provide funding and support to the new owners in development.^[2]

In July 2007, a dispute arose between the Scottish Rugby Union and the owners of the newly-franchised Edinburgh team. According to owner Bob Carruthers the SRU owed Edinburgh a six-figure sum which had not been paid. Carruthers also claimed that SRU had threatened to pull the plug on funding if Edinburgh went ahead with court action relating to the recovery of this sum. [1]

This led Edinburgh to resign from the SRU, and it was feared that this would prevent the team from being able to fulfil their Magners League and Heineken Cup fixtures.[2]. However, Edinburgh withdrew their notice of resignation a short time later and were re-admitted to the SRU. [3].

Despite this, the dispute continued, with both sides initiating legal action against the other. The situation was resolved in August 2007 with the termination of the franchise agreement and the return of Edinburgh to the direct control of the SRU. [4].

Backs

• Callum MacRae - Fullback/Centre/Flyhalf, 26/01/80, 14st 2lb, 6' 1"
• Hugo Southwell - Fullback/Centre, 14/05/80, 14st 13lb, 6' 2"
• Andrew Maxwell - Wing, 17/07.81, 14st 2lb, 6' 2"
• Mark Robertson - Wing/Fullback, 30/12/84, 14st 2lb, 6' 2"
• Andrew Turnbull - Wing/Fullback, 05/04/82, 12st, 5' 7"
• Simon Webster - Wing/Centre, 08/03/81, 14st, 6' 1"
• Ben Cairns - Centre/Wing/Fullback, 29/09/85, 13st 6lb, 6'
• Nick de Luca - Centre/ Fullback, 01/02/84, 14st 8lb, 6'
• Matt Dey - Centre, 01/04/81, 15st, 6' 1"
• Andrew Easson - Centre/Fullback, 20/10/86, 15st 1lb, 6'
• John Houston - Centre, 10/03/83, 14st 2lb, 6' 2"
• Phil Godman - Flyhalf/Centre, 20/05/82, 13st 4lb, 5' 10"
• Alistair Warnock - Flyhalf/Fullback, 11/08/82, 13st 4lb, 6'
• David Blair - Flyhalf, 14/07/85, 12st 5lb, 5' 11"
• Mike Blair - Scrumhalf, 20/04/81, 13st 5lb, 5' 11"
• Greig Laidlaw - Scrumhalf, 12/10/85, 11st 3lb, 5' 9"
• Ben Meyer - Scrumhalf, 15/11/77, 14st 2lb, 5' 11"

Forwards

• Augusto Allori - Loosehead Prop, 31/12/78, 17st 4lb, 5' 11"
• Gavin Kerr - Prop, 03/04/77, 17st 11lb, 5' 11"
• Geoff Cross - Tighthead Prop, 11/12/82, 17st 1lb, 6'
• Ryan Grant - Prop, 08/10/85, 17st 1lb, 6'
• Allan Jacobsen - Loosehead Prop, 22/09/78, 17st 2lb, 5' 10"
• Craig Smith - Tighthead Prop, 30/08/78, 18st 5lb, 6' 2"
• Ross Ford - Hooker, 23/04/84, 17st 5lb, 6'1"
• Andrew Kelly - Hooker, 02/06/82, 16st 7lb, 6' 1"
• Steven Lawrie - Hooker, 22/02/84, 16st 3lb, 6' 1"
• Ben Gissing - Lock, 15/07/75, 18st 12lb, 6' 7"
• Craig Hamilton - Lock, 01/09/79, 17st 8lb, 6' 8"
• Fergus Pringle - Lock, 10/10/77, 17st 12lb, 6' 5"
• Simon Cross - Flanker/No.8, 03/02/81, 16st 11lb, 6' 4"
• Alan MacDonald - Openside Flanker, 21/10/85, 16st, 6' 2"
• Matt Mustchin - Blindside Flanker/Lock, 02/02/77, 17st 5lb, 6' 4"
• Scott Newlands - Blindside Flanker, 20/07/85, 16st 3lb, 6' 3"
• Ross Rennie - Openside Flanker, 29/03/86, 14st 13lb, 6' 1"
• Dave Callam - No.8, 15/02/83, 16st 11lb, 6' 4"
• Allister Hogg - No.8/Flanker, 20/01/83, 16st, 6' 3"
• Roland Reid - No.8/Flanker, 13/09/78, 17st, 6' 4"

For further details the current squad list is available here

• Andy Robinson - Current head coach appointed on the 1st Oct 2007
• Henry Edwards - Second term as interim head coach, also formerly forwards coach and currently SRU head of player development
• Lynn Howells - Took over on 17th September 2006, dismissed on 10th August 2007
• Todd Blackadder - Interim coach, also a former player, left in 2006
• Frank Hadden - Now the Scotland national team coach
• Bob Easson - Now with the Scottish Institute of Sport
• Iain Rankin - Later team manager, left in 2003

• Todd Blackadder (New Zealand) - retired in 2005
• Mike Blair (Scotland)
• Dave Callam (Scotland)
• Rob Dewey (Scotland) - left for Ulster in 2007
• Marcus di Rollo (Scotland) - left for Toulouse in 2007
• Ross Ford (Scotland)
• Phil Godman (Scotland)
• Dougie Hall (Scotland) - left for Glasgow Warriors in 2007
• David Hewett (New Zealand) - retired in 2007
• Nathan Hines (Scotland) - left for Perpignan in 2005
• Duncan Hodge (Scotland) - retired in 2007
• Ally Hogg (Scotland)
• Allan Jacobsen (Scotland)
• Gavin Kerr (Scotland)
• Brendan Laney (Scotland) - left for Yamaha Jubilo in March 2005
• Francisco Leonelli (Argentina) - left for Glasgow Warriors in 2006
• Lucio Lopez Fleming (Argentina) - left in 2007
• Ander Monro (Canada) - left for Waterloo RFC in 2006
• Scott Murray (Scotland) - left for Montauban in 2007
• Chris Paterson (Scotland) - left for Gloucester in 2007
• Mike Pyke (Canada) left for Montauban in 2006
• Craig Smith (Scotland)
• Hugo Southwell (Scotland)
• Simon Taylor (Scotland) - left for Stade Francais in 2007
• Simon Webster (Scotland)

Date	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Score	Venue	Match Report
September 2nd 2006	Ospreys	17	Edinburgh	11	Liberty Stadium	[5]
September 8th 2006	Edinburgh	20	Leinster	14	Murrayfield	[6]
September 15th 2006	Edinburgh	20	Ulster	15	Murrayfield	[7]
September 22nd 2006	Connacht	22	Edinburgh	22	Galway Sportsground	[8]
September 29th 2006	Edinburgh	14	Glasgow Warriors	9	Murrayfield	[9]
October 13th 2006	Munster	10	Edinburgh	21	Thomond Park	[10]
November 3rd 2006	Edinburgh	13	Cardiff Blues	23	Murrayfield	[11]
November 10th 2006	Newport Gwent Dragons	17	Edinburgh	10	Rodney Parade	[12]
December 1st 2006	Edinburgh	17	Border Reivers	3	Murrayfield	[13]
December 22nd 2006	Glasgow Warriors	34	Edinburgh	27	Hughenden	[14]
January 5th 2007	Edinburgh	24	Llanelli Scarlets	14	Murrayfield	[15]
January 26th 2007	Edinburgh	49	Connacht	31	Murrayfield	[16]
February 16th 2007	Leinster	13	Edinburgh	6	Donnybrook	[17]
March 2nd 2007	Edinburgh	12	Ospreys	30	Murrayfield	[18]
March 23rd 2007	Border Reivers	10	Edinburgh	3	Netherdale	[19]
April 6th 2007	Edinburgh	30	Newport Gwent Dragons	20	Murrayfield	[20]
April 14th 2007	Cardiff Blues	48	Edinburgh	0	Cardiff Arms Park	[21]
April 29th 2007	Llanelli Scarlets	42	Edinburgh	17	Stradey Park	[22]
May 4th 2007	Edinburgh	9	Munster	35	Murrayfield	[23]
May 11th 2007	Ulster	16	Edinburgh	10	Ravenhill	[24]

Pos	Team	P	W	L	D	F	A	Diff	T	B	Pts
1	Ospreys	20	14	6	0	461	374	87	49	8	64
2	Cardiff Blues	20	13	6	1	447	327	120	53	9	63
3	Leinster	20	12	7	1	472	376	96	53	11	61
4	Llanelli Scarlets	20	12	8	0	490	417	73	61	9	57
5	Ulster	20	11	8	1	423	310	113	45	9	55
6	Munster	20	12	8	0	379	294	85	37	6	54
7	Glasgow Warriors	20	11	9	0	434	419	15	42	5	49
8	Edinburgh	20	8	11	1	335	423	-88	31	8	42
9	Newport Gwent Dragons	20	8	12	0	353	362	-9	36	7	39
10	Connacht	20	4	14	2	326	474	-148	29	6	26
11	Border Reivers	20	2	18	0	201	545	-344	16	4	12

Edinburgh were drawn in Pool 2 along with fellow Celtic League side Leinster, French side SU Agen and English side Gloucester. Leinster advanced to the quarter finals as pool winners.

Date	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Score	Venue	Match Report
October 20th 2006	SU Agen	19	Edinburgh	17	Stade Armandie	[25]
October 29th 2006	Edinburgh	25	Leinster	24	Murrayfield	[26]
December 9th 2006	Gloucester	38	Edinburgh	22	Kingsholm	[27]
December 17th 2006	Edinburgh	14	Gloucester	31	Murrayfield	[28]
January 13th 2007	Leinster	49	Edinburgh	10	Donnybrook	[29]
January 19th 2007	Edinburgh	7	SU Agen	19	Murrayfield	[30]

Key to colours

Winner of each pool, plus two highest-ranked second-place teams, advance to quarterfinals

Team	Pld	W	D	L	TF	PF	PA	+/-	BP	Pts
Leinster	6	4	0	2	21	174	97	+77	5	21
SU Agen	6	4	0	2	12	119	119	0	1	17
Gloucester	6	3	0	3	19	152	144	+8	3	15
Edinburgh	6	1	0	5	9	95	180	-85	1	5

Season	Pos	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn
1996/1997	Pools	4	0	4	0
1998/1999	Pools	6	2	3	1
1999/2000	Pools	6	3	3	0
2000/2001	Pools	6	3	2	1
2001/2002	Pools	6	1	4	1
2002/2003	Pools	6	2	4	0
2003/2004	QFs	7	5	2	0
2004/2005	Pools	6	1	5	0
2005/2006	Pools	6	2	4	0
2006/2007	Pools	6	1	5	0

Season	Pos	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn
1997/1998	Pools	6	2	4	0

Season	Pos	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn
1999/2000	8th	22	10	11	1
2000/2001	8th	22	11	11	0
2001/2002	6th	20	10	8	2

Season	Pos	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn
2001/2002	Pools	6	2	4	0
2002/2003	QFs	8	6	2	0
2003/2004	10th	22	9	13	0
2004/2005	7th	20	9	11	0
2005/2006	5th	20	11	9	0
2006/2007	8th	20	8	11	1

Season	Pos	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn
2002/2003	1st	8	5	2	1

• Official site
• Supporters Club site
• Edinburgh Rugby Foundation site
• Edinburgh video vault on Channel XV
• RugbyStuff - Rugby Store in Edinburgh

• Scottish Rugby Union
• Celtic League
• Heineken Cup
• European Challenge Cup

1. Hogg and Cross to share Edinburgh captaincy stv website, 25 June 2007.

v • d • e Magners Celtic League
Teams	Cardiff Blues • Connacht • Edinburgh • Glasgow Warriors • Leinster • Llanelli Scarlets • Munster • Newport Gwent Dragons • Ospreys • Ulster • (Defunct teams: Border Reivers • Celtic Warriors)
Seasons	2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • 2009

v • d • e Heineken Cup
2007-08 Teams	Benetton Treviso • Bourgoin • Bristol • Biarritz • Cardiff Blues • Clermont • Edinburgh • Gloucester • Glasgow Warriors • Harlequins • Leicester Tigers • Leinster • Llanelli Scarlets • London Irish • London Wasps • Munster • Newport Gwent Dragons • Ospreys • Perpignan • Saracens • Stade Français • Toulouse • Ulster • Viadana
Seasons	1995-96 • 1996-97 • 1997-98 • 1998-99 • 1999-00 • 2000-01 • 2001-02 • 2002-03 • 2003-04 • 2004-05 • 2005-06 • 2006-07 • 2007-08 • 2008-09

v • d • e Rugby union in Scotland
Governing body	Scottish Rugby Union
National teams	Scotland · A · Club International Team · U-21 · U-19 · Seven's · Women's · School's · British and Irish Lions
Competitions	Magners League (Scotland, Ireland and Wales) · Scottish Hydro Electric League Championship · Premiership · National League · Regional Leagues (ex-District Leagues) · Border League · Grampian Alliance League · Highland Alliance League · University Leagues · 2nd XV Leagues · SWRU League (Women's) · Scottish Hydro Electric Cup · SuperCup (defunct)
See also	League System · Murrayfield Stadium · Edinburgh Sevens · Borders Sevens Circuit · Melrose Sevens