The victory was enthusiastically received with the match ball going on exhibition at a local Stockbridge shop window for many weeks after.
For the England side the whole experience had come as a shock. There had been no awareness of the sport's popularity in Scotland and a return fixture at the Kennington Oval was arranged in February 1872. This time England were victorious, but now the English clubs played under the auspices of the Rugby Football Union, whose inaugural AGM was held in October 1871.
These early internationals provided the impetus behind the regulation and standardisation of the sport.
The Scotland v England match had become an annual fixture. On the 3rd of March 1873, the game was played in Hamilton Crescent in Glasgow, the home of West of Scotland Cricket Club. Following the match, a meeting was held to discuss the setting up of a Football Union, and so the Scottish Football Union was formed.
The match is now played as part of the Six Nations tournament but still retains certain unique qualities. Long before there was a trophy for the championship the only tangible “silverware” on offer was the Calcutta Cup, which is the oldest trophy in world rugby. Played annually this magnificent trophy was made by Indian silversmiths from melted-down Silver rupees. This had been the balance of the funds of the Calcutta Football Club, which had disbanded in 1878.
The cup was donated to the RFU to be played in a challenge match between Scotland and England. The match has been played annually with only three breaks. Play was suspended for the duration of both World Wars, March 1914 until March 1920, then March 1939 to March 1946.
The only other period where the game ceased was during the time of the Great Dispute in the 1880s. Once settled it introduced a law to the game which marks out rugby and the way it is refereed, the “advantage law”. In the match of 1884 the English scored a try after a Scottish player had knocked the ball on. The Scots had stopped playing due to the infringement and called for the try to be disallowed. The English were aggrieved that they might suffer because of a Scottish error.
The dispute did not end with the match and the RFU would not allow an independent arbitration of the matter, arguing that as the oldest Union, they were the sole guarantors of the Laws of the game. In the end play between Scotland and England was stopped for two seasons and Ireland and Wales supported Scotland. When the RFU eventually compromised, the International Rugby Football Board was formed. This allowed the fixture to be restored and once again the challenge with the Auld Enemy could be taken up.
With the benefit of historical perspective it can be said that the kernel of the whole structure of an international sport came from the vision of a group of Scots who simply wanted to play a game of rugby.
