The match had caught the mood of the country, while both codes of football were still very much the preserve of the middle-classes, there was developing sporting fever in mid-Victorian Britain. Prior to the match, advice was being issued to the side through the letters page of the Scotsman and the match was eagerly anticipated.
On the day of the match an advertisement appeared in the “The Scotsman” indicating the time and the place and an entrance fee of one shilling. 4,000 people paid to go through the gate at Raeburn Place raising a sum in excess of £200, a considerable sum for the time. The match was to be played over two 50 minute halves. In the end the match was won, narrowly, by Scotland with a goal and a try to a solitary try by England. The methods of scoring were very different than that seen today. The try, which is now accorded 5 points and is very much seen as the principle means of scoring, was then not considered worthy of anything. The try provided an opportunity to kick at the posts, a “try at goal”, the ball going over the post was the score and was a goal, what we now call the conversion. There were no penalty goals, as it was accepted that gentlemen would not cheat.
The first try in International rugby was scored by Angus Buchanan, this was duly converted by W Cross, which provided the first full score and ultimately the win.
The match did not go on without some heated disputes. The rules throughout Britain still varied and it was common for disputes to occur and even for matches to end as one side, feeling aggrieved, would simply leave the field. So it was here, when the English disputed the second Scottish try. As the ball was thrown in, a Scot, J W Arthur, accidentally knocked the ball on, as it fell over the English line. It was then touched down for a try. Not surprisingly, the English protested about the knock-on, however in Scotland this was acceptable, if it was judged not to have been deliberate and so the try stood, but went unconverted.
During the dispute, H H Almond, one of the early giants of Scottish rugby, found himself having to settle with his own wisdom. His decision making process was laid out later, when he wrote;
“I must, say, however, that when an umpire is in doubt, I think he is justified in deciding against the side which makes the most noise. They are probably in the wrong.”
