The other districts North and Midlands and South were formed later, and they all played in the Scottish Inter-District Championship from 1953 onwards.

There was significant opposition, notably from Gavin Hastings and Keith Robertson, but the professionalisation of Scotland's districts was approved.

A lot of the top amateur clubs were against the professional districts from the start, believing that they should be entered into the Heineken Cup instead.

A 'Gang of Four' – ex-Scottish internationalists Jim Aitken, Finlay Calder, David Sole and Gavin Hastings – went around Scotland drumming up support for a professional Club model to be used instead.

Eventually after two years the Scottish Rugby Union cut the four districts to two, merging Edinburgh and the Borders; and Glasgow and Caledonia in 1998.

[2] The Scottish Inter-District Championship had been an already limited tournament; with only four professional sides, and only three matches played by each team each season.

David Sole stated: "This proves yet again that to put the focus on districts was an ill-conceived and ill-planned idea which wasn't thought through"[2] Although the two districts were now bigger, the subsequent lack of progression for players, the morale sapping of losing half the Scottish professional base[3] and the continued ill-feeling from the clubs hampered Glasgow and Edinburgh progress for years to come.

However the SRU engendered good relations with the IRFU and organised friendlies for Glasgow and Edinburgh to play against the Irish provinces.

This was gerrymandered so that the invited sides only played the Welsh teams and not one another but it was an opportunity that the SRU could not afford to turn down and both Glasgow and Edinburgh claimed their place in the tournament.

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.

[9] Despite the exhaustion of the Scottish players and the fact that they played a number of matches in several days due to postponements the WRU Challenge Cup was deemed a success.

When Cardiff was trounced by Llanelli RFC in the semi-final it brought a reality check to the two want-away clubs.

The WRU could have a new league; Cardiff and Swansea could come back into the fold without losing face; and Glasgow Caledonians and Edinburgh Reivers could finally have opposition they needed.

The SRU was confident enough to revive one of its disbanded districts and chose the Border Reivers; the traditional powerhouse of Scottish rugby.

[12] Secretary of the Welsh Rugby Union Dennis Gethin said "A fully fledged Celtic League is of paramount importance and we are working towards achieving that goal.

To avoid overplaying our top players and for administrative reasons, the forthcoming 2003 World Cup will delay its implementation.