The Scotland national rugby league team represent Scotland in international rugby league football tournaments. The team is run under the auspices of the Scotland Rugby League, and are nicknamed The Bravehearts. Scotland are not regarded as a test nation. Following the breakup of the Great Britain team, Scottish players will now play solely for Scotland, apart from occasional Southern Hemisphere tours, for which the Great Britain team is expected to be revived.
Though its foundations may date back to as early as 1904, the team formally began in 1995, making them the newest international rugby league team in Great Britain. In their first match they played Ireland, losing narrowly. Since then, Ireland has become the team's main rival, the two teams having played each other many times in their short histories. Scotland have also played the United States, France and Russia amongst others, although they have never played their traditional rival England. In 2000 they qualified for their first ever World Cup, but failed to make an impact, losing all three of their group matches; however, their biggest losing margin was just 12 points. In 2008 they beat Wales over two matches to qualify for the 2008 World Cup.
Scotland play in a dark blue strip, similar to the nation's football and rugby union teams, with blue shirt, shorts and socks. A blue and white shield with a thistle, the Scottish emblem, is the team's badge. The shirt has rarely been significantly changed, although in the early days of the team, white was also used on the shirts.
Currently the team is ranked ninth in the world, ahead of Wales but behind the other home nations neighbours England and Ireland. In the Rugby League European Federation, Scotland are ranked fourth behind Ireland but ahead of Lebanon. Englishman Steve McCormack is the team's coach, having coached since 2004, with Danny Brough captaining the side.
Read more about Scotland National Rugby League Team: 2012 Squad, Player of The Year, Coaches, Support, Statistics, Scotland A, Match Officials
Famous quotes containing the words scotland, national, league and/or team:
“The state of monarchy is the supremest thing upon earth: for kings are not only God’s Lieutenants upon earth, and sit upon God’s throne, but even by God himself they are called gods.”
—James I of England, James VI of Scotland (1566–1625)
“All men are lonely. But sometimes it seems to me that we Americans are the loneliest of all. Our hunger for foreign places and new ways has been with us almost like a national disease. Our literature is stamped with a quality of longing and unrest, and our writers have been great wanderers.”
—Carson McCullers (1917–1967)
“I am not impressed by the Ivy League establishments. Of course they graduate the best—it’s all they’ll take, leaving to others the problem of educating the country. They will give you an education the way the banks will give you money—provided you can prove to their satisfaction that you don’t need it.”
—Peter De Vries (b. 1910)
“Relying on any one disciplinary approach—time-out, negotiation, tough love, the star system—puts the parenting team at risk. Why? Because children adapt to any method very quickly; today’s effective technique becomes tomorrow’s worn dance.”
—Ron Taffel (20th century)