Scottish Rugby Chief Executive Gordon McKie, said: “Whilst each of the locations visited offered many positives, including likely crowd atmosphere on match days, we have examined all information obtained and measured them against an established criteria for hosting pro team matches and this has confirmed that we should remain at Murrayfield at this point in time.  The cost of upgrading an alternative facility was too great.

“Although Murrayfield is a huge stadium for games the size of Celtic League matches, it does at this time provide the best option in many areas such as floodlighting, under soil heating, spectator access, media facilities and hospitality areas but crucially offers a platform for much needed growth in our spectator numbers. It also allows us to play all home matches at the same location given the length of the season.

“Our long term desire remains, however, to identify comparable but smaller stadia looking to host pro team rugby.”

Edinburgh Gunners Captain Chris Paterson added: “It’s great for the players to have this news confirmed as it adds to the consistency from season to season, especially since we have our training base here too.  Murrayfield of course gives us the best playing surface in the country and, even though the crowd are all on one side of the pitch, the noise the Gunners fans make is brilliant and always inspires the team when we play here at home.”