No doubt inspired by Abertay's Louis Auldjo, Dundee's first international rugby player, who had represented Scotland against England at the Oval in 1878, Dundee High School Former Pupils' Rugby Football Club was formed in 1880 by a group of schoolfriends and rugby aficionados, David Hynd, David Hutchison and Tom Ferguson, the principals of the affectionately monikered "Maryfield Gang" after the scrap of wasteland on which they would play after school. With no sport on the school curriculum in the 19th century, the boys passionately followed local teams Abertay and Red Cross and upon leaving school met in The Victoria coffee house on 23 November 1880 and decided to form their own team.
That meeting produced the first office bearers of the club:
1st XV
Captain: David M Hutchison
Sub-Captain and Secretary: Thomas C Ferguson
Treasurer: David Hynd
Committee: Herbert Bell, James Martin, David Robertson
2nd XV
Captain: Alexander Hynd
Sub-Captain: G. Stevenson
Secretary: William Ross
The club changed to be no longer restricted to former pupils of the high school and was an open club.
Purchase
The club bought Morgan Academy RFC to form a new club Dundee Rugby in 2021. One of the main reasons for the purchase was to rescue both clubs and prepare a development plan to get the new club into the professional Super 6 league.[2]
Sevens
The club ran the Dundee Sevens tournament.[3] On the club's merger with Morgan in 2021 to form Dundee Rugby a new Sevens tournament began that year to announce the merger. The first winners of the Dundee City Sevens were Blazin’ Squad (Men) and the Howe Harlequins (Women).
