The 1971 Scotland versus England rugby union match, also known as the Rugby Union Centenary International, was an international rugby union match played between Scotland and England on 27 March 1971, the centenary of the match between the two teams played in 1871.
Overview and background + The teams' pre-match recordTeamWins41 31Draws14 The match between Scotland and England on 27 March 1971 was played one week after their Five Nations meeting. The record of both teams at the Five Nations tournament was poor: Scotland finishing last, England second-last. The two teams were separated by just one-point, both on the final standings and in their Five Nations fixture. The Scots came back to win the encounter 15–16, breaking their six-year, two-match losing streak at Twickenham Stadium.
With the previous weeks result, the competition between both teams was considered very tight. Despite both teams' poor records in the Five Nations, it was notably mentioned as unworthy by the news-media.
Scotland ran away with a dominant victory at home, 26–6. The twenty-point win was Scotland's biggest victory over England, and remained so for until they met in the 1986 Five Nations.
Match details
FB 15Arthur Brown RW 14Billy Steele OC 13John Frame IC 12Chris Rea LW 11Alastair Biggar FH 10Jock Turner SH 9 Duncan PatersonN8 8 Peter Brown (c) OF 7 Rodger Arneil BF 6 Nairn MacEwan RL 5 Gordon Brown LL 4 Alastair McHarg TP 3 Sandy Carmichael HK 2 Quintin Dunlop LP 1 Ian McLauchlan Substitutes:N8 16Gordon Strachan WG 17Ronnie Hannah CE 18Stephen Turk SH 19Ian McCrae HK 20Bobby Clark PR 21Hamish Bryce Coach:Bill Dickinson FB 15Bob HillerRW 14Jeremy JanionOC 13Chris WardlowIC 12John Spencer (c)LW 11David DuckhamFH 10Dick CowmanSH 9 Nigel Starmer-SmithN8 8 Bob Taylor OF 7 Tony NearyBF 6 Tony BucknallRL 5 Chris RalstonLL 4 Peter LarterTP 3 Fran CottonHK 2 John PullinLP 1 Piggy PowellSubstitutes:WG 16Peter GloverSH 17Jacko PageHK 18Andy JohnsonPR 19Stack Stevens N8 20Charlie HannafordFH 21Ian WrightCoach:Don White
References