Scotland and the World Champions New Zealand clash in the first match of New Zeland’s Northern Hemisphere tour on Sunday at Murrayfield. This is shaping up to be a memorable occasion in spite of the best efforts of a certain journalist from New Zealand’s shameful disrespectful attempt at mocking the hosts in an article earlier this week.
This will be the first time that Murrayfield will have a sellout crowd for any matches at this time of the year. This is just reward for the Scottish Rugby Union (SRU) who have been a big marketing campaign for quite a while now. In addition to the actual game there are various activities planned to make the occasion all the more memorable. News of these activities and the announcement of the game being a sellout follow.
All courtesy of SRU
RUGBY REMEMBERS
Scotland, New Zealand, members of the Armed Forces and the wider rugby family will join in a moment of remembrance on Sunday ahead of the opening EMC Test of the season at Murrayfield
The match falls on Armistice Day and Scottish Rugby will hold its traditional wreath-laying ceremony at the stadium’s war memorial at 11am.Later, before kick-off, players from both teams and the capacity 67,144 Murrayfield crowd will honour the memory of those who have served their country and lost their lives in armed conflict by observing a silence.
SRU President Alan Lawson said: “Of all the major rugby playing countriesScotlandlost more rugby internationalists – some 30 – in the First World War than any other nation.
“Our opposition on Sunday, NewZealand, lost 20 of their international players during the World Wars.
“We will welcome members of theNew Zealandparty to our act of remembrance and all staff and contractors on duty in the stadium are also being asked to join us if they can.”
Scotland’s cap and points’ record holder Chris Paterson and Scotlandkit manager John Pennycuick, a veteran of the Falklandsand Gulf wars, will also play a part in the wreath-laying ceremony.
MURRAYFIELD CROWD TO SALUTE THEIR GREATEST OLYMPIAN
Scotland’s greatest Olympian and a host of athletes from Team GB will be feted by the capacity Murrayfield crowd at Sunday’s EMC Test against New Zealand.
A guard of honour comprising Scots who performed with distinction at both the London Olympics and Paralympics earlier this year will welcome both teams to the field and cyclist Sir Chris Hoy, who has won six gold medals over three Games, will deliver the match ball before the 2.30pm kick-off. Sir Chris and fellow gold medal winners – canoeist Tim Baillie and mixed adaptive four rower David Smith – will lead a half-time parade to enable the crowd to acclaim their inspirational efforts during a special year for sport.
Scotland captain Kelly Brown said: “As a Scot it’s been a privilege to watch Sir Chris on the greatest stage winning in Sydney, Beijing and London.
“He has been an inspiration and it’s great that Scottish Rugby has invited Sir Chris and many other Olympic and Paralympic athletes to Murrayfield this weekend.”
Other Olympic/Paralympic medallists who will be present include sailor Luke Patience; blind/visually impaired cyclist Aileen McGlynn; canoeist David Florence and hockey player Emily McGuire.
A host of other athletes from judo, weight-lifting, badminton, swimming, boxing, women’s football, sitting volleyball and boccia will also join in the parade.
One of the successes of the 2012 Olympics was the army of volunteers who enhanced the whole experience for spectators and participants alike and Scottish Rugby’s purple clad crew will be aiming to follow suit. You’ll see them in the stadium and in the city centre and they’ll be happy to help with any inquiries.
Scottish Rugby has also been working with partners in the city, in the shape of Essentially Edinburgh, to make the whole day an unforgettable occasion.
Fans are being encouraged to head for a special FanZone in Rose Street long before kick-off to take advantage of special offers, which are only available for those with match tickets.
From the Omni centre at the top of Leith Walk and cutting through the heart of the city along Rose Street, the FanZone sees bars and restaurants, clothing shops and cook shops getting right behind the team and backing blue.
Scottish Rugby wants fans to make the most of getting together and supporting the team and is encouraging people to make the march down to Murrayfield en masse from Rose Street around 12.30pm to create a truly special atmosphere in the build up to kick-off.
Scottish Rugby’s Director of Commercial Operations, Communications and Public Affairs, Dominic McKay said: “We are delighted to welcome around 20 of our Olympians and Paralympians to Murrayfield on Sunday.
“This will give the capacity crowd and the whole nation the opportunity to congratulate them anew for a quite amazing summer of sporting achievement.
“With volunteers styled on the Olympics games-makers we hope to make every supporters’ day more enjoyable and with activity around the stadium such as our back-pitches family zone and the Red Hot Chilli Pipers in the stadium bowl there will be a lot on the go.
“A huge part of the day is about people getting together before the game and enjoying the buzz around the city.
“We’ve got a full house for this game but we want the whole of the city to know that Scotland are playing and our fans are as passionate as they come.”
Supporters are being encouraged to bring their pipes and drums and get together for the march on Murrayfield.
CAPACITY CROWD FOR KIWI CLASH AS MILLIONS WATCH ON TV WORLDWIDE
Scotland’s home game against New Zealandin the EMC Test at Murrayfield this Sunday is a sell-out, Scottish Rugby confirmed today.
It’s the first time a match held at Murrayfield in the Autumn window has reached capacity with more than 67,000 packing out the stadium to see Scotland’s clash with the world champions.
With tickets for the second game in the EMC Tests, against South African next weekend, also selling well, fans are being urged to act now to avoid missing out on seeing the national team.
Dominic McKay, Scottish Rugby’s Director of Commercial Operations, Communications and Public Affairs, said: “I’d like to thank the fans for their incredible support.
“We’ve worked hard to make Murrayfield a place people want to come back to again and again, and to see sales for the South Africa game also going well, it means fans are really buying into what we’re trying to achieve.
“The ticket sales are unprecedented for these autumn games and the support on Sunday and beyond means a lot to the players and the management of the Scotland team.”
Meanwhile, a global TV audience of around 100 million will watch Scotland’s opening EMC Test against New Zealand this Sunday.
Here in the UK the match will be shown live on BBC TV with the match kicking-off at 2.30pm.
The programme will start on BBC 1 and BBC1 HD from 2pm and will be presented by John Inverdale. Studio guests will be Andy Nicol and Jeremy Guscott and commentary will come from Andrew Cotter and Jonathan Davies. Chris Cusiter will be the touchline reporter.
Coverage will extend across North and South America, Asia, Australasia and throughout Europe.
Dominic McKay added: “There’s huge support for the Scotland team here at home and from literally hundreds of thousands of ex-pats around the world.
“We will have the first ever capacity Murrayfield crowd at this time of year and when you add the reach of the broadcast coverage an estimated 100 million people worldwide will be sharing in the excitement.”
Here’s where you can watch the EMC Scotland v New Zealand Test outwith the UK:
Australia – Fox Sports; New Zealand – Sky New Zealand; Fiji – Fiji TV; Singapore – StarHub; Malaysia and Brunei – Astro;
Hong Kong – nowTV; South Africa – Supersport International; Argentina and Brazil – ESPN; USA and Canada – ESPN North America; Middle East – Gulf DTH LDC (Showtime Arabia); France – Direct 8; Portugal – Sport TV; Italy – Sky Italia