The Edinburgh District competed in the tournament, playing in fixtures against the South of Scotland, and Glasgow and the West.

The teams met on 23 November 1872 at Burnbank Park and Edinburgh won 1 drop goal – 0 in a 20-a-side fixture.

This is the oldest inter-district match in the world and to mark this the current Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh Rugby sides play for the 1872 Cup every year.

The first Edinburgh team in 1872:[1] Backs:  A. Ross (Wanderers), J. Patullo (Craigmount), Thomas Roger Marshall (Edinburgh Academicals), W. St. Clair Grant (Craigmount), J. Junor (Royal High School), James Andrew Whitelock Mein (Edinburgh Academicals), and E. Thew (Merchistonians) Forwards:  Francis Moncreiff (captain), R. W. Irvine, E. M. Bannerman, James Finlay (Edinburgh Academicals), Angus Buchanan, Alexander Petrie, and M. Sanderson (Royal High School), Charles Cathcart and John Lisle Hall MacFarlane (Edinburgh University), Tom Whittington (Merchistonians), Benjamin Blyth II (Merchistonians), J. Forsyth and A. R. Stewart (Wanderers) Often to aid the selection process of Edinburgh District's players a trial match was played.

In Edinburgh's case a trial match of hopefuls was divided into Stripes and Plain teams, so the players could impress the selectors.

This move prompted yet another shift in balance as Glasgow once again became the dominant force of the two districts.

In an attempt to stay in touch with the leading nations the SRU formed four professional teams out of the four amateur districts of Scotland in 1996.

It was these newly professional teams that would represent Scotland in the Heineken Cup and in the Celtic League.

[4] McKillop noted:[4] Having grown up in an era when the Inter-district Championship was something special for players and coaches to be involved in, it is fantastic to see it being revived.

It’s a huge privilege to be asked to work with the best coaches and players in the Edinburgh District.

We want to create an environment the players fall in love with and go back and tell their club mates how great the experience was.

I’m especially looking forward to our game at Netherdale because I know the Borders fans will buy into this and make it a great occasion.

Scoreline key: The Inter-City match was then incorporated into the Scottish Inter-District Championship.