[1] The move stunned almost everyone in Scottish rugby; including Jim Telfer who had little time to prepare a defence of the four districts.

[3] The fact that last season's top two sides Caledonia Reds and Glasgow Warriors were being merged into one however made most doubt this.

This was an unfortunate name as, at least initially, their play did not merit the term and the reduction of the districts hindered player progression around the country.

To try and increase the level of competition available, friendlies were sought as a short term fix while negotiations continued with other Rugby Unions.

In competitive matches, Glasgow and Edinburgh were also invited sides to take part in this season's Welsh Rugby Union's Challenge Cup.

[13] This however didn't happen immediately but the fledgling success of the Scottish sides in the WRU Challenge Cup engendered good relations between Scotland and Wales and paved the way for a Welsh-Scottish League.

Hookers Gordon Bulloch Chris Docherty Kevin McKenzie Gavin Scott Props Willie Anderson Alan Kittle John Manson Gordon McIlwham Tom Smith Locks Stewart Campbell Stuart Grimes Guy Perrett Rob Wainwright Loose forwards Gareth Flockhart Gordon Mackay Jon Petrie John Shaw Gordon Simpson Martin Waite Murray Wallace Jason White Half backs Graeme Beveridge Derrick Patterson Fraser Stott Stand offs Tommy Hayes Cameron Little Chris Paterson Luke Smith Centres Alan Bulloch Aaron Collins Murray Craig Ian Jardine John Leslie Matt McGrandles Chris Simmers Back Three James Craig Shaun Longstaff Glenn Metcalfe Derek Stark Rowen Shepherd Glasgow District Rugby Union once again sent a Glasgow Thistles squad to New Zealand for their development.

Glasgow Caledonians:G Metcalfe; D Stark, C Simmers, I Jardine, J Craig; T Hayes, D Patterson; T Smith, K McKenzie, A Kittle, S Campbell, G Perrett, G Flockhart, M Waite, G Simpson.

London Scottish: I McAusland, K Milligan (J Turnbull 70), R Davies, J Bonney, I McIntyre (E Ramage 42), J Cameron (S Binns 30), G Easterby, P Johnstone (R Bijl 65), D Cummins, P Burnell (C Johnstone 49), E Jones, M Watson( M McAtamney 48), S Fenn (T Davies 38), C Tarbuck (G Manson-Bishop 59), R Hunter.

Glasgow Caledonians: G Metcalfe, S Longstaff (A Bulloch 21), R Shepherd, I Jardine, D Stark, T Hayes (C Simmers 30), F Stott, T Smith (G McIlwham 65), K McKenzie, W Anderson (A Kittle 56), S Grimes, S Campbell, J White, G Simpson, G MacKay (G Flockhart 56).

Ulster: S. Mason; J. Davis, S. McDowell (S. Coulter), M. McCall, J. Cunningham; D. Humphries, A. Matchett; J.Fitzpatrick, A. Clarke (R. Weir), G. Leslie (R. Irwin), M. Rea (M.Blair), G. Longwell, A.

Ward, A. McWhirter (C. McCarey ) Glasgow Caledonians: R. Shepherd (A. Collins); A. Bulloch, C.Simmers, I. Jardine, D. Stark; C. Paterson, D. Patterson (F. Stott); G. McIlwham, C. Docherty (T. Smith), A. Kittle (W. Anderson), S. Campbell, G. Perrett (S. Grimes), J.

Glasgow Caledonians: T Hayes; J Craig, I Jardine, J Leslie, D Stark; L Smith, D Patterson; G McIlwham, K McKenzie, A Kittle, S Campbell, G Perrett, J White, J Shaw, G Mackay.Replacements - A Bulloch (used), C Simmers, C Little, M Wallace, G Flockhart (used), J Manson, G Scott (used) South Africa: G du Toit; B Paulse, R Fleck, C Stewart, L Venter; B van Straaten, W Swanepoel; O le Roux, N Drotske, W Meyer, S Boome, J Trystman, C Krige, A Vos, B Skinstadt.Replacements - D Kayser (used), R Markram (used), C Alcock (used), P Smit, O Nkumane (used), T van der Linde (used) Glasgow Caledonians: T Hayes; J Craig, C Simmers (A Collins 66 min), I Jardine, A Bulloch; L Smith (C Paterson 76 min), C Little; G McIlwham, G Scott, A Kittle (J Manson 67 min), S Campbell, G Perrett, G Flockhart (J Petrie 5 min), J Shaw, G Mackay.

The previous year's Scottish Inter-District Championship produced a tight finish and Glasgow were just pipped to first place by Caledonia Reds.

The pool matches saw Glasgow grouped alongside London Wasps; with former player Kenny Logan now starring for the English side.

However they were soundly beaten by the Leicester Tigers and their matches against English opposition showed the gulf of professionalism that then existed between Scotland and England.

teams received in the pool matches: With the merging of the 4 districts into 2; now only Glasgow and Edinburgh were involved in a championship.

Glasgow Caledonians and Edinburgh Reivers then fought it out in a renamed Tri-Series sponsored by Tennents Velvet.

Although Edinburgh won their pool runners-up spot they then pulled out of the 3rd place play-off against Bridgend due to their players' exhaustion.