Scotland set to be under strength for summer tour – Daily Business

Scotland will head to the Southern Hemisphere in the summer to take on the Māori All Blacks, Fiji and Samoa.

However, with the tour clashing with the British & Irish Lions’ trip to Australia, head coach Gregor Townsend is unlikely to have a full-strength squad at his disposal.

The tour kicks off with a match against the Māori All Blacks on Saturday 5 July, and will be the first time the sides have met since 2000, when the hosts edged a narrow encounter 18-15 in New Plymouth. It will be just the third match between the Māori and Scotland with the other game coming at Murrayfield in 1998.

As per World Rugby’s San Francisco calendar agreement which was decided in 2017, Scotland will then take on Fiji and Samoa.

The match against Fiji will be played on Saturday 12 July at the HFC Bank Stadium in Suva, marking Scotland’s first game on Fijian soil since 2017. The tour will finish on Friday 18 July where Scotland take on Samoa.

Townsend said: “It’s the first time since 2000 that we’ve been to New Zealand and spending time in a country with such a deep rugby culture is a unique and special experience. There are players and coaches within our group who have never been there before and I know they are looking forward to the opportunity as well as the challenges we will face on the tour.

“With the Lions tour happening at the same time, I’m expecting that we will have to call up some players that weren’t involved in the Six Nations. But it will be an experienced group overall that we are planning to take out on tour, as we know these are three very tough games for us.”