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Rugby Magners League
United Kingdom
The Magners League
Eddinburgh Rugby vs Munster
Match scheduled:
Date: 23-10-2009
Time:19:00 until 21:00
Magners League
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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 and the 4 professional sides were reduced to 2. 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.
Following the reduction of Scotland's professional structure to two sides a rebranding took place. Edinburgh Reivers were simply titled 'Edinburgh Rugby' with the Glasgow Caledonians undergoing a similar renaming process as part of a "major revamp"[10] of the professional structure in Scotland.
In the 2003/2004 season the team found some success as they reached the inaugural Celtic Cup final - beating Cardiff Blues and Connacht en route in the quarter-finals[11] and semi-finals[12] respectively. The team's good run came to an end in final, however, with 21-27 loss to Ulster at Murrayfield. David Humphreys kicked 17 points in the match to earn the Irish province the trophy[13]
For the 2005/2006 season, Edinburgh found themselves looking for a new coach following the departure of Frank Hadden to coach Scotland.[14] Sean Lineen, then Glasgow Warriors assistant coach, was linked with the post[15] before Todd Blackadder acquired the position for the season[16] after a spell as interim coach[17].During the same season the team nickname was incorporated into the 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[6]. 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.
[edit] Private Ownership: 2006-2007
[edit] Scotland's first private franchise: 2006
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[18]. This was thought to be a saving grace for Border Reivers. The team were thought to be favourites to be scrapped after the Scottish Rugby Union had warned that funding problems could force it to scrap one of its Celtic League sides[19]. 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[18]. Following the departure of Todd Blackadder to join the Crusaders coaching setup in the Super 14 Lynn Howells was appointed as head coach by new executive chairman Alex Carruthers[20].
[edit] Funding dispute & return to SRU: 2007
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 should Edinburgh continue with legal action relating to the sum.[21] In the midst of the dispute Alex Carruthers resigned along with then Managing Director Graeme Stirling[22]. The dispute caused much disruption in Scottish rugby at the time, leading to the temporary withdrawal of 12 players from the Scotland squad training for the 2007 Rugby World Cup. This included leading players such as Chris Paterson and Mike Blai
The dispute escalated when on July 9, 2007 Edinburgh revoked their associate membership of the SRU[23]. This led to doubts over whether Edinburgh could fulfill fixtures in the Magners League and Heineken Cup and whether Edinburgh players were insured for playing at club level. The resignation was withdrawn on July 12, with Bob Carruthers asking to "talk directly to someone" and insisting the proposed signing of Australia stand-off Stephen Larkham would go ahead[24]. Despite this, the dispute continued, with both sides initiating legal action against the other[25][26]. 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
[edit] Under Andy Robinson: 2007 to 2009
Following the return to SRU control the club coach Lynn Howells was dismissed. SRU head of player development was appointed interim coach and Nic Cartwright appointed Chief Executive, after his spell at Harlequins RL, where he had somewhat of a cult following with fans regularly chanting the song "We love Nic Cartwright, because he's got long hair, we love Nic Cartwright, Coz of the clothes he wears, etc......[27] Former British and Irish Lions captain Gavin Hastings was subsequently appointed Chairman[28] stating his "desire and passion to see this game and this club grow". The proposed signing of Stephen Larkham fell through after the SRU were unable to honour the terms of the agreement.[29] This was viewed as a disappointment at the time as the signing was considered a coup for the beleaguered SRU when the signing was initially announced
Following an application process[31] it was announced on October 1, 2007 that Andy Robinson, the former England head coach, would become the club's new head coach.[32] Edinburgh showed progress under Robinson, performing well at home in the Heineken Cup posting wins against Leinster[33] and Leicester Tigers[34] and a narrow loss to Toulouse, earning a bonus point.[35] Following disappointing performances by Scotland in the 6 Nations, and Robinson co-coaching Scotland A[36], there were rumours of Robinson taking a post within the Scotland set-up after helping Edinburgh to climb to 3rd in the Magners League. [37][38] This progress, however, was counter-pointed by some disappointing results including being shutout by Cardiff Blues at Murrayfield [39] and losing the 1872 Challenge Cup on aggregate to rivals Glasgow Warriors.
On 26 December 2008 the a new home record attendance of 12,534 was set against Glasgow Warriors.[41] In the 2008/2009 season Edinburgh reached their highest position finishing in second place to Munster.
Andy Robinson left in 2009 to take up the position of head coach of the Scottish national side. Rob Moffat took over at Edinburgh.
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