Scotland rugby

The Robinson era

Former England coach Andy Robinson became Scotland coach in time for the 2009 Autumn Internationals. Scotland's form picked up with a 23–10 victory over Fiji and a memorable 9–8 win against Australia (the first win over the Wallabies for 27 years) at Murrayfield.

Scotland went into the 2010 Six Nations with a renewed confidence, hoping to build off the successes in the autumn. After losing their first match to a superior French side, Scotland looked to turn the corner against Wales in Cardiff. They scored two tries in the opening quarter of the match and held a 24-14 lead with seven minutes remaining. However, two players were sin-binned in that period, and Scotland strangely opted not to kick the ball into touch after Wales had tied the game just short of the 80 minute mark. The resulting passage of play saw Wales score the winning try and leave Scotland frustrated. The frustration continued in a loss to Italy and a draw with England. However, in the final rugby match at Croke Park, Scotland stole the occasion, dominating the set pieces and continually attacking. They won the match against Ireland 23-20 on a last-minute penalty by Dan Parks, denying the Irish the Triple Crown and assuring they themselves would avoid the wooden spoon.

The championship was highlighted by Parks' influential return to the international foray, and the outstanding play of the 'Killer B' back row: Kelly Brown, John Barclay, and Johnnie Beattie.

In the 2010 Summer Internationals, Scotland toured Argentina and recorded their first ever away series victory, beating the Pumas in two tests, 24-16 and 13-9.

Thistle and the anthem

The thistle is the national flower, and also the symbol of the Scotland national rugby union team. According to legend the "guardian thistle" has played its part in the defence of Scotland against a night attack by the Danes, one of whom let out a yell of pain when he stepped barefoot on a thistle, alerting the Scottish defenders. The Latin Nemo me impune lacessit ("No-one provokes me with impunity!" in English) is an ancient motto of the Kings of Scotland, and also of Scotland's premier chivalric order, the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle, and of the Scots Guards (the latter both "belonging" to the monarch).

The Flower of Scotland has been used since 1990 as Scotland's unofficial national anthem. It was written by Roy Williamson of the Corries in 1967, and adopted by the SRU to replace God Save the Queen. In the first year of using The Flower of Scotland as an anthem, Scotland walked onto the pitch at the beginning of the Five Nations Championship deciding match against England. This combination was explosive and Scotland went on to beat England 13-7 and win the Five Nations Championship with a Grand Slam.

Strip

Scotland have traditionally worn navy blue jerseys, white shorts and blue socks. The team sponsor used to be The Famous Grouse, a brand of Scotch whisky whose logo is shown on the team jersey and shorts. In France, where alcohol sponsorship is banned by law, the regular logo was replaced with "TFG". On the occasion that Scotland is the home side and the opposing team normally wears dark colours, Scotland will use its change strip. Traditionally this is a white jersey with navy blue shorts and socks. For a brief period, when Cotton Oxford were the shirt sponsors, the white shirt was replaced by a bright orange one with orange and blue hoops on the sleeves. This was first used against the New Zealand Māori November 14, 1998. This change strip was replaced by the traditional white one just two years later. Also during this sponsorship deal, purple was introduced to the traditional blue jersey. This was a significant departure from the traditional colours of blue and white, although purple is inspired from the thistle flower.

On September 3, 2007 it was announced that Rangers F.C. chairman Sir David Murray's company would become the new shirt sponsor, investing £2.7 million over the next three years. This came as The Famous Grouse ended its 17 year relationship with the team the month prior to this. The Famous Grouse however, have maintained a low profile link to the Scottish Rugby Union by becoming the main spirit sponsor. This deal is thought to be worth a tenth of the original cost and forbids the Scottish Rugby Union from affiliating itself from any other whisky manufacturer.

There is a long running campaign to have the word "Alba", which is Gaelic for Scotland on the national rugby strip . Since 2005, the SFA have supported the use of Scots Gaelic on their teams's strip in recognition of the language's revival in Scotland.

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