To wonder why so many Scottish people a thrilled when England do badly at sport?

[Jollyphonics]

I'm not bothered about the rugby at all personally, but this is irritating me. I have several Scottish friends, and their Facebook newsfeeds are full of gloating about England being knocked out of the world cup. It's a recurring theme with all sporting contests - mant Scottish people will support some random team from a country they've never heard of, if they're playing against England. I don't see the same with Wales and Ireland. Why is this? Is there that much resentment?

For those insisting union is a toffs' game it might be worth looking at this link. It's from 2007 and it wasn't true even then. You only have to look at the numbers of players who have switched from League to Union (and some the other way) to give the lie to this.

The England World Cup squad and where they went to school:

Jamie George Haileybury and Imperial Service College - an independent school near Hertford, England. Originally a boys' public school, it is now co-educational, enrolling pupils at 11+, 13+ and 16+ stages of education. Over 750 pupils attend Haileybury, of whom more than 500 board.

Rob Webber Pocklington School - an independent school in Pocklington, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1514 by John Dolman.

Tom Youngs Gresham’s School - an independent coeducational boarding school in Holt in North Norfolk, England. Gresham's School is one of the top 20 IB schools in England

Kieran Brookes Kirkham Grammar School - a selective, co-educational independent school in Kirkham, Lancashire, England. It was founded in 1549.

Dan Cole Robert Smyth Academy - an upper school in Market Harborough, Leicestershire, England for 14-19 year olds.

Joe Marler Heathfield Community College - a secondary school and sixth form located just outside the market town of Heathfield in the heart of the Wealden district of East Sussex in the U.K.

Mako Vunipola Millfield - a co-educational independent public school in Street, Somerset, England.

David Wilson Harton Technology College (formerly Harton Comprehensive School) - a mixed secondary school and sixth form in South Shields, Tyne and Wear, England, with pupils aged from 11–18

George Kruis St John’s School, Leatherhead - an independent school in Surrey, England. It is a co-educational independent school for approximately 660 pupils pupils aged 13 to 18.

Joe Launchbury Christ's Hospital, also called The Bluecoat School, Housey and CH - an English coeducational independent day and boarding school with Royal Charter located in the Sussex countryside

Courtney Lawes Northampton School for Boys (NSB) - a secondary school (academy) in Northampton, England

Geoff Parling Durham School - an independent day and boarding school in the North East of England for boys and girls

James Haskell Wellington College - a British co-educational boarding and day independent school in the village of Crowthorne in Berkshire.

Chris Robshaw Millfield - a co-educational independent public school

Tom Wood Woodlands Academy (formerly The Woodlands School and Sports College) - a boys secondary school with academy status situated in west Coventry

Nick Easter Dulwich College - an independent, public school for boys in Dulwich, southeast London, England. The college was founded in 1619 by Edward Alleyn

Ben Morgan Katharine Lady Berkeley's School - an academy school near Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire, England, for ages 11 to 18.

Billy Vunipola Harrow School - an English independent school for boys situated in the town of Harrow, in north-west London

Danny Care Prince Henry's Grammar School (Specialist Language College) - a secondary school and sixth form established in 1607 in the market town of Otley, West Yorkshire, England.

Richard Wigglesworth Kirkham Grammar School - a selective, co-educational independent school in Kirkham, Lancashire, England.

Ben Youngs Gresham’s School - an independent coeducational boarding school in Holt in North Norfolk, England.

Owen Farrell St George's School, Harpenden (also known as St George's) - a day and boarding school in Harpenden, Hertfordshire, England

George Ford Rishworth School - a co-educational independent school in the village of Rishworth, near Halifax, in West Yorkshire, England.

Brad Barritt Kearsney College - a private boarding school for boys in Botha's Hill, a small town between the provincial capital of Pietermaritzburg and Durban, in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa.

Sam Burgess Heckmondwike Grammar School (HGS) - a state selective, coeducational grammar school providing free education,[3] located in Heckmondwike, West Yorkshire, England.

Jonathan Joseph Millfield - a co-educational independent public school

Henry Slade Plymouth College - a co-educational independent school in Plymouth, Devon, England, for day and boarding pupils from the ages of 3 to 18.

Jonny May The Ridgeway School & Sixth Form College - a coeducational secondary school and sixth form with academy status, located in Wroughton in the English county of Wiltshire.

Jack Nowell Mounts Bay Academy (formerly Mounts Bay School) - an academy school in Heamoor, Penzance, Cornwall, England.

Anthony Watson St George's Weybridge - independent mixed Roman Catholic co-educational day schools in Surrey, England taking pupils from 3-18.

Mike Brown Wyvern College, or Wyvern - a secondary school in Salisbury, Wiltshire for boys aged 11 to 16

Alex Goode Oakham School - a British co-educational independent school in the market town of Oakham in Rutland, with a school roll of about 1,000 pupils, aged from 10 to 18

20 out of 32 from private schools. Just over 60%. (About 7% of UK children go to private schools.)

Woodlands Academy (formerly The Woodlands School and Sports College) - a boys secondary school with academy status situated in west Coventry

Can't speak about any others, but that is about as far away from 'toff' as you can get

fun

As many have pointed out, Welsh Not was not hundreds of years ago, but within living memory, which explains some of the bad feeling. However, I think the arrogance is the real issue, and for those of you who don't seem to see the arrogance, have a look at these pre match headlines.

Eastmids Mummy - at least half of those you mentioned went to those schools on sports scholarships. Is that allowed or is that a sign of toffness?

Number of players in the Wales team who played Fiji the other night, who went to private school - 2 and one of those was on a scholarship.

Rugby league is only played in a small part of the country, if you come to Wales it is practically non existent.

Rugby Union isn't a middle class game in Wales, or other parts of the world, but it undoubtedly is in England. Of course scholarships are "allowed", but the fact that some of our leading private schools let people in for free because they are good at rugger hardly points to it being an egalitarian game!

Cardibach:www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/how-wales-can-beat-australia-10189964. Arrogant??

Behooven I'm still here, but it's all got a bit rugby technical for me. It's been interesting to read about how people perceive England in sporting events though. I'd never have thought of England as arrogant, more
like hopelessly optimistic!

This may sound pathetic but it's hard not to take it personally when friends put "humorous" pictures on Facebook slating England. But then I'm very careful not to offend anyone on Facebook so I never say anything remotely political.

Sometimes it feels strange being English - it appears that huge numbers of the world population dislike us, but at the same time plenty of people risk their lives to come and live here with us. So we can't be that horrible!

To be fair it is probably a bit mixed in Scotland - Most of the private schools have a team and not so many of the state schools do in central Scotland.. however, in the Borders and some other places it is very much a working class village sport in the same way as it is in Wales. So I'd say the team is probably more of a mix (or at least it used to be - can't say I've checked recently) and I think we also have out fair share of "incomers" who've qualified via residency or because they are of Scottish decent.

I also know personally of a child who has been given full scholarship/bursary to attend private school purely on the basis of rugby skills so that happens here too.

Jolly they are just hoping to pass through to get to the utopia that is Scotland :o

I think it is mixed in England as well tbf.

Around here there are many at the top of the game from working class backgrounds.

I think it just depends.

for those of you who don't seem to see the arrogance, have a look at these pre match headlines. Since when was anything printed in a newspaper
a) A reliable guide to public opinion
b) (legitimate) grounds for hatred of a Nation?
c) In any way reliable

On of my Welsh facebook friends posted that he was going to be the bigger man but then decided to post ha ha ha ha ha England. Not something to brag about really, and ironic since I obviously have much more cordial feelings to Wales and him.

I'm Welsh and it's down to the sheer arrogance of the English biased media. The way they have been going on over the last few weeks you'd never know that were two other home nations in this rugby World Cup. It's the same in football, but I'd also like to point out that Wales are now better than the English at that as well .

Get over yourselves and maybe we might start supporting you in sporting events.

BTW I am quite old, but I went to two very very average State Schools in the English Midlands where we played Rugby quite a bit - I think it's patchy.

you'd never know that were two other home nations in this rugby World Cup You do know that NI is in too right? I know that they are part of the overall Irish team, but I'd still count them as a home Nation....hell, I'm happy to include France and Italy in that category too :o

Welsh here and loving it. There is just something so insufferably arrogant about England Rugby Union.

I am absolutely "Anyone but England", but only for the rugby. Quite happy to support the football team or any other English sportspeople. Interestingly, I live in Rugby League country. Most people I have spoken to are fairly amused by the England teams failure; they don't seem to feel much loyalty at all.

And the media coverage has been so biased it is farcical. Inverdale really is such a knob.

I'm Scottish but would never be anti-English. Reason being that I spent 12 years of my adult life down South, and have only positive things to say and very fond memories on the whole. It would also be a bit rich to slag it off, when my first two children were born there, had first proper job there, first mortgage etc etc! I was very well treated and the only teasing over my accent (I'm a high school teacher!) was done in very good natured jest. So, I have had valuable life experience there, and the anti-English probably have not ... so often it is ignorance on their part.

The Sunday Times this morning where saying something about how it should have been the "white knights" of England progressing until it wen t wrong. Really? You see yourself like that? And then wonder why the rest of us feel cheered when that sort of arrogance gets paid off?

cardibach This came from the pen of Stephen Jones. Jones. Just saying ...

Of course I can't speak from a sporty point of view, as I have little interest in it.

Sorry yes, I would include Ireland as well. The problem is that English people don't seem to notice the horrendous bias. The Friday before the England Vs Wales Daybreak was harping on about the match constantly, this huge clash of Titans that England were obviously going to win. Well they didn't win and Daybreak didn't mention the rugby at all on the Monday morning.

As an earlier poster has said, the English comentators will always bring everything back to England. It's always all about how everything will affect England, sometimes it's like the rest of us doesn't even exist.

I don't hate England and have a English family and friends and am not massively patriotic, but I do find it really infurtaiting.

I wouldn't support the English Rugby team or Football team but will happily support any other English, Welsh or Irish sportsperson at any event unless they are obviously competing against a Scot - unless that Scot is a total knob though - or if it's Bradley Wiggins I am supposed to be supporting as I can't stand him.

I'm a Scot not Scotch & when I lived in England, I was always asked if I would support England in Sports because I lived here no

I wouldn't expect anyone to support any national team except their own.

Scottish people don't hate English people, we do, however, have an issue with what we perceive as the English Establishment (the media, the government etc)

The Scots don't like the assumption that the media makes, that everyone really wants the England teams to win. To be honest, I have no more desire to cheer on England than I do France or Germany. But that doesn't make me an English Hater, it just means that I really don't care.

BUT it would be nice if the England team would stop playing my National Anthem when they play. It does rankle somewhat, especially when it's an England v Scotland game.

But, when John Inverdale completely dismissed the Scotland game yesterday, in favour of the one we've all been waiting for, his face at the final whistle was quite amusing.

As a Scot watching British television, I was more than a wee bitty peed off this morning at the excessive news coverage of England's exit from the Rugby World Cup. I'm sure there was a lot more happening in the world than a few sportsmen failing at a job they are very much overpaid to do.
I am an awful lot more peed off this evening at having my country described as a colony and my fellow countrymen and women described by a term used for whisky and picnic eggs.

No Bradley is a complete tool. I would rather support Frome, who, let's be honest, is basically Kenyan.