History of rugby union matches between England and Scotland

England and Scotland have been playing each other at rugby union since 1871 when Scotland beat England in the first ever rugby union international. A total of 144 matches have been played, with England having won 77 times, Scotland 48 times and nineteen matches have been drawn.

Apart from fixtures played in the Home/Five/Six Nations Championship competitions, two games have been played at the Rugby World Cup: the 1991 Semi-final and the 2011 Pool B fixture, both of which England were victorious. The sides also met in 1971 in a match to commemorate the centenary of the first match between the sides, which Scotland were victorious in both fixtures.

The 1938 Calcutta Cup match was the first live televised rugby international. It was broadcast by BBC Television.

The first two international sides to play against each other, the England–Scotland fixture is the second most-played international rugby union match as of 2025. Behind the Australia–New Zealand rivalry by some thirty-plus matches (not including XV results), it is one match ahead of the England–Ireland match-up and the Ireland–Scotland match-up.

Calcutta Cup

The teams have consistently been competing for the Calcutta Cup annually since 1879, or their ninth match-up together. Used in a one-off match, the Cup first took part in the Home Nations friendlies of the 1870s and early '80s. It is now one trophy of many used between the six teams that make up the Six Nations Championship.

Summary Note: Summary below reflects test results by both teams. Overall Details Played Won byEngland Won byScotland Drawn England points Scotland points In England 70 46 16 8 1,027 636 In Scotland 72 30 32 11 727 688 Neutral venue 1 1 0 0 16 12 Overall 144 77 48 19 1,790 1,367

Records Note: Date shown in brackets indicates when the record was last set. RecordEnglandScotlandLongest winning streak10 (16 February 1991 – 2 April 2000)4 (4 March 1893 – 13 March 1897; 21 February 1970 – 17 March 1973; 6 February 2021 – 22 February 2025)Largest points forHome61 (11 March 2017)33 (15 February 1986)Away35 (21 February 2004)38 (16 March 2019)Largest winning marginHome40 (3 March 2001; 11 March 2017)27 (15 February 1986)Away26 (2 February 2002)15 (9 March 1901)

Results