The Scottish Cup is the annual knock-out cup competition for domestic rugby union clubs in Scotland. The cup has been competed for since the 1995–96 season. Despite many structural changes the competition has always culminated with the final at Murrayfield Stadium.
Format Clubs in the 10-team Premiership and National League Division 1 compete in an unseeded knockout tournament, with four matches in the first round prior to the last 16.
As part of Silver Saturday at Murrayfield in April, the finals of the associated National League Cup, Shield, and Bowl competitions are also held. These take place on the main Murrayfield Stadium pitch and at the adjacent Edinburgh Rugby Stadium along with the equivalent Women's tournaments (Sarah Beaney Cup, Shield, and Plate).
The National League Cup is contested by the 30 clubs in National League Divisions 2, 3 and 4. The National Shield is played on a regional basis with two Caledonia, three East and three West region clubs progressing into national quarter-finals. The National Bowl is for all remaining regional league clubs, with four local competitions each producing a winner for the national semi-finals.
History Since the 2017–18 season when the National League Cup was introduced, entry to the Scottish Cup has been restricted to the top two divisions of Scottish rugby.
Prior to this clubs in the three National Leagues competed in the first round, with six Premiership sides added in the second round, and the final four Premiership teams added in the third round of the competition.
The Cup has also been played on a regional or group basis prior to the knock-out rounds in the past, while the Shield was initially introduced as an additional competition for clubs eliminated in the early rounds of the Cup.
The competition was in abeyance between 2019 and 2022, initially due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and made its return in the 2022–23 season.
Cup Finals A total of 14 clubs have appeared in the final, of whom 9 have won the competition.
Ed.SeasonWinnersScoreRunners-up 1995–96 Hawick17–15Watsonians 1996–97Melrose* 31–23 Boroughmuir 1997–98Glasgow Hawks36–14Kelso 1998–99 Gala8–3Kelso 1999–2000 Boroughmuir35–10Glasgow Hawks 2000–01Boroughmuir (2)39–15Melrose 2001–02Hawick (2)*20–17 Glasgow Hawks 2002–03Heriot's25–13Watsonians 2003–04Glasgow Hawks (2)* 29–17Dundee HSFP 2004–05Boroughmuir (3)39–25Dundee HSFP 2005–06Watsonians31–15Currie 2006–07Glasgow Hawks (3)24–13Edinburgh Academicals 2007–08Melrose (2)31–24Heriot's 2008–09Heriot's (2)21–19Melrose 2009–10 Ayr26–23Melrose 2010–11Ayr (2)25–21Melrose 2011–12 Gala (2)24–10Ayr 2012–13Ayr (3)* 28–25 Melrose 2013–14 Heriot's (3)31–10Glasgow Hawks 2014–15Boroughmuir (4)55–17Hawick 2015–16 Heriot's (4)*21–13Melrose 2016–17Melrose (3)23–18Ayr 2017–18 Melrose (4)*45–12Stirling County 2018–19 Ayr (4)* 27–25Heriot's FP 2019–22 2022–23 Hawick (3)*31–13 Marr 2023–24 Hawick (4)32–29Edinburgh Academicals 2024–25 GHA52–30Glasgow Academicals 2025–26 Ayr (5)31–26Currie Notes a.e.t. – after extra time * – winning team were also Scottish Premiership champions
Scottish Cup Wins by Club Ayr: 5 Boroughmuir: 4 Heriot's: 4 Melrose: 4 Hawick: 4 Glasgow Hawks: 3 Gala: 2 GHA: 1 Watsonians: 1
Scottish SuperCup In season 2006–07 Premiership One consisted of only 10 clubs, a situation that saw a supplementary competition, the Scottish SuperCup created. The competition included the 10 clubs split into two groups of 5, with the pool winners meeting in a Final at Myreside. With Premiership One reverting to 12 clubs again for 2007–08, it was abandoned after only one season.
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