On February 14, 2026, there will be two England-Scotland clashes in two major tournaments – both featuring Kolkata.
England-Scotland cricketing contests are neither very frequent nor one of the great rivalries. When they do happen, cricket fans seldom associate the games with Kolkata (erstwhile Calcutta), where the teams will meet for their 2026 T20 World Cup clash at the historic Eden Gardens on February 14.
England’s defeat against the West Indies has added importance to their two remaining games of the first round, against Scotland and Italy. Adding to the intrigue is a (somewhat famous) bit of trivia: England have played five games against European sides at the T20 World Cup and have not won any.
But the T20 World Cup match is not the only England-Scotland clash featuring Calcutta on February 14. On that day at the Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh, their rugby counterparts will clash in the 2026 edition of the oldest rugby union international – the Calcutta Cup, a name seeped in history.
Two nations do meet in different sports at the same time, but seldom is a city in a third nation entwined in the clashes. What is more, for nearly a century and a half, England and Scotland have never met in any organised mainstream sport in the city. Neither has the Calcutta Cup been played on February 14 (though it was played on February 15 in 1986).
Had this been a video game, a coincidence of this proportion might have opened a portal to the next level.
Match 23, England vs Scotland
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'The Ashes' in the sport of rugby
The Six Nations Cup is an annual rugby union tournament contested between England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, France, and Italy. Of the 15 possible rivalries, eight are contested for specific trophies. Of these, the Calcutta Cup is the oldest, dating back to 1879.
There is little documentation on the pre-1870 spread of rugby in India. There are sketchy mentions from 1871, but the first specific mention was on Christmas 1872 in Calcutta. On that day, two 20-member teams – representing “England” and “Scotland” – played a game of rugby. Inspired by the game, former students of Rugby School and soldiers of the Royal East Kent Regiment formed the Calcutta Rugby Football Club of India in January 1873, and joined the Rugby Football Union in 1874.
The idea caught on as 137 members signed up in the first year, but the club soon fell on hard times. The accounts reflected about £60 in the form of 270 silver rupee coins. In September 1878, a British silversmith and watchmaker melted these in September 1878 to create the Calcutta Cup. Michael Rowe, curator of the World Rugby Museum in Twickenham, calls it “the Ashes in the sport of rugby”.
This was then presented to the Rugby Football Union to be used as “the best means of doing some lasting good for the cause of Rugby Football.” The 18-inch silver trophy sits on a wooden base: three silver king cobras form the handles, while an Indian elephant rests on the lid.
Since 1879, England and Scotland have been competing for the Calcutta Cup, alternately in Twickenham and Edinburgh. The original trophy has been resting in Twickenham since players from both sides decided to have a game of rugby using the trophy as the ball in 1988, causing significant damage. It caused a dent and, following repairs, has been considered unwise to move.
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