By nmbutler3
When people think of UK and European sports, football (or soccer for us Americans) tends to be the first, if not only thing to come to mind, and while I am by instinct an avid soccer fan, I've learned that here in Scotland, it’s rugby that holds the hearts of the people. Don’t get me wrong, football matches are still very much an integral part of Scottish recreation, but that being said, nothing seems to unify people together quite like a rugby match.
The Scottish National Rugby team is currently in the middle of their autumn tests, and living in Edinburgh means I am able to see a few matches. So far I’ve been able to go to the Scotland v. Japan and the Scotland v. South Africa games, and I have to say that watching a rugby match in Murrayfield Stadium is one of the must-dos of Edinburgh. The opening of the match alone is one of the most inspiring experiences I’ve ever encountered. Youtube Flower of Scotland at Murrayfield Stadium and you’ll get a hint of what I mean. Flower of Scotland is the unofficial national anthem of Scotland (God Save the Queen is the British anthem) and to hear the stadium resound with the prideful verses sung by every Scottish person present is unlike anything you would ever encounter in the States. Sure, Americans will hum and quietly sing along with the national anthem at sporting events, but never like this. The Scottish auxiliary band plays the first to verses of the song while seemingly every Scotsman in the arena proudly belts out the words as though they were the ones standing down on the pitch at the microphone, which in and of itself is beautiful, but then when the third and final verse rolls around, the band cuts out and the continued resounding sound of the proudly sung words literally reverberates through your entire body despite the fact that there are no loud speakers echoing the song, just the voices of the rugby fans. It is absolutely amazing. Just look it up, trust me, or better yet, go to a match because I cannot even begin to convey the awe and powerfulness of the experience. Not to mention, the tangible united pride aside, the fact that you can tell just by looking that every Scottish person there not only believes the words they are singing, but actually feel them. In any other circumstance, a group of professional rugby players and gruff fans, all with the glimmer of a tear in their eyes would be a strange sight to see, but at Murrayfield it would be hard to imagine it any other way. The song is actually that powerful.
Anyway, moving past the opening, the match itself is an amazing experience. Fans are incredibly dedicated, but not in an obnoxious or oppositional, trash-talking way that you sometimes see with American sports. Rather, Scottish rugby fans seem to be almost exclusively supportive and never, and I do mean NEVER, give up on their team. The score of the South Africa game was Scotland: 0 and South Africa: 28 and the fans never dwindled or lost faith. People also seemed so much more interested in the plays and details of the game than you see in a many American sporting events.
The entire experience was positively inspiring, which sounds a bit exaggerated, seeing as it was just a rugby match, but trust me, it is unlike anything else. The energy, the unity, the pride; it is like experiencing one of those inspirational sports movies in real life. Absolutely a must-do for any bucket list.