Scottish Rugby Varsity Match 2025
St Andrews v Edinburgh at Hive Stadium. Credit: Louise Anderbjörk
On Saturday the 20th of September, one of the oldest rivalries in Scottish sport took over Hive Stadium in Edinburgh: the annual Rugby Varsity Match between the University of St Andrews and the University of Edinburgh. The history runs deep, as both universities established their rugby clubs in the 1850s, making them among the oldest in the world. From that, the fixture has unsurprisingly grown into one of the key highlights of the annual Scottish sporting calendar.
My job on the day was to cover the match for the St Andrews team. Only a couple of months ago I’d graduated from the university myself, and returning in a professional capacity to continue supporting them with my photography felt great. This is especially true as I first came to rugby through photography rather than the other way round. In my first year, a friend asked me to shoot one of her games, and I quickly became hooked. I hadn’t played before, but photographing the sport opened a whole new way of engaging with it. Since then, I’ve come to appreciate that photographing rugby isn’t just about quick reflexes but about knowing and anticipating the game. The ball can shift direction in an instant, so you need to know the game well enough to read it before it happens. That’s why I spent evenings with YouTube tutorials and Google searches, teaching myself the rules so I could predict the next pass, the next tackle, the next decisive moment, all to get the best shots out of the game.
By 12:30 I was outside Murrayfield, accreditation sorted and coffee in hand, with plenty of time to scout the stadium before kick-off. Early arrivals are special moments on their own: the empty stands, the vendors getting ready before the spectators arrive, the sight of players warming up in near silence. This was only the second Varsity held at a professional ground since the pandemic, so the atmosphere buzzed with anticipation. Would St Andrews defend their title, or would Edinburgh reclaim the trophy?
As the players’ warm-ups wound down, I began my own. Walking the pitch, I mapped out the zones where I could and couldn’t shoot, worked out the quickest ways to shift between angles, and pictured the compositions I wanted to chase once the game was underway. Just as the first waves of supporters poured in - students decked out in blue, green, and scarves for both sides - it was time to settle in and focus.
St Andrews v Edinburgh at Hive Stadium. Credit: Louise Anderbjörk
From the first whistle, the pace was ferocious. Rugby always catches me off guard in that respect: one moment of stillness followed by sudden, explosive movement. Here, all the hours spent studying rules paid off. You can’t just react; you need to be half a second ahead. That’s how you capture the ball spiralling from a lineout, or the look of grim determination as a scrum grinds forward.
Edinburgh set the tone early, pulling ahead before halftime. The home crowd rose to the occasion, despite the classic Scottish rugby weather of rain and wind slowly having steadily grown in intensity throughout the game. As a pitch side photographer, rain is both your enemy and your secret weapon. You sacrifice personal comfort as umbrellas is not an option, but in return you get shots with a raw edge. Raindrops suspended in the frame during a tackle or glistening off a player’s face in the middle of a scrum bring the grit of the sport to life. As long as you’re fast enough to keep your lens clean and dry, rain doesn’t have to ruin photos but has big potential to elevate them.
The second half was St Andrews’ resurgence. They clawed their way into the lead despite the worsening downpour, turning the match into a nail-biter. For nearly forty minutes, it looked like they might pull off a dramatic defence of the trophy. Then, in the final thirty seconds, Edinburgh struck with a decisive try. The stadium erupted. The sound hit like a wave, and for a photographer, those are the moments you live for: not just the athletes, but the crowd, the elation, the shared roar of victory and despair.
St Andrews v Edinburgh at Hive Stadium. Credit: Louise Anderbjörk
When the whistle blew, Edinburgh had the trophy back, but St Andrews had put in a performance to be proud of. For me, it was another reminder of why I keep coming back to shoot rugby. It’s not only about recording the scoreboard, but about capturing the texture of the day: the nerves before kickoff, the intensity of the game itself, and the students cheering in the stands.
By 10 p.m., I was finally home, photos delivered, and gear drying out. My clothes were still damp, my shoulders and legs sore, but little did that matter as I now had hundreds of frames portraying one of the most unique and action-filled events in the Scottish sporting calendar.
Edinburgh winning the Scottish Varsity Match 2025 at Hive Stadium. Credit: Louise Anderbjörk