1925 - Scotland’s first Grand Slam win

Scotland won its first Grand Slam victory on 21 March 1925, with an exciting final match against England at the newly opened Murrayfield Stadium in front of a record crowd of 70,000.

The Scots had already beaten France 25-4, Wales (in Cardiff) 24-14 and Ireland (in Dublin) 14-8. Only England stood between them and their first Grand Slam. This was a closely contested game between two talented sides, with the lead changing hands three times.

England scored first with a penalty goal but the Scots quickly reversed things with a converted try: 5-3. Two English tries followed, one converted, to put the visitors in the ascendancy once more: 5-11.

With twenty-five minutes remaining the Scots scored again but the try was controversial, the English claiming a foot had been put into touch before the ball was grounded. However, the Welsh referee Mr Freethy believed the try to be good and it was duly converted, taking the Scots to within two points of victory: 10-11.

Scotland applied the pressure in a desperate attempt to score another try, but to no avail. Then, with just five minutes to go, the Scottish fly half, Waddell, slotted a drop goal, taking the score to 14-11 and securing the Grand Slam for Scotland.

The Scotland team was captained by GPS Macpherson, who captained EAFC between 1928 and 1931 and won 26 caps for his country. In 2001, in a poll carried out by Scottish Rugby Magazine and the Herald, Macpherson was selected in Scotland’s all-time greatest XV and as Scotland’s greatest ever attacking player. In 2002 he was inducted into Scotland’s Sports’ Hall of Fame.