While attention was focused on Murrayfield this weekend, Highlands and Islands MSP Jamie Halcro Johnston and his Scottish Parliament colleagues were taking on the Commons & Lords RFC at Edinburgh’s historic Raeburn Place ground.
Unfortunately, unlike two weeks ago when the Holyrood team mirrored the result at Murrayfield by beating a French Parliament team 25-5, this time the Scottish Parliament came up just short, losing 20-17 to a strong Westminster team. The charity match was held in support of the School of Hard Knocks, an organisation that utilises sport to tackle issues around unemployment, crime and health across the UK.
Conservative MSP Jamie Halcro Johnston was following in the footsteps of his great great uncle, Henry Halcro Johnston, who was capped for Scotland at Raeburn Place in 1877 in an international match against England. The Scots won that game one “goal” to nil.
Jamie Halcro Johnston said:
“I was honoured to be able to play my first game against the Commons & Lords RFC at Raeburn Place almost 141 years to the month since my Uncle Henry earned the second of his caps against England at the same ground, the birthplace of international rugby.
“Unfortunately we were unable to match the result of the 1877 game, or the slightly better-attended game across Edinburgh at Murrayfield later on Saturday afternoon, but we did raise some money for a very good cause and that makes all the aches and pains worth it.
“We know that Holyrood can punch well above its weight against some of our bigger competitors, and we go forward to our next game against the Irish Houses of the Oireachtas in Dublin in two weeks’ time with renewed confidence”.