Scotland to face Argentina in three tests on summer tour

Scottish Rugby has announced that Gregor Townsend’s side are to embark on a summer trip to South America to face Argentina in a series of tests.

The national team will play three matches against Los Pumas in July, the first time Scotland have every player a trio of tests against any Tier 1 nation while on tour.

Scotland could also play Chile in a warm-up for the series, though no formal agreement has yet been reached on that game.

Townsend’s squad will play Argentina in Juyjuy on Saturday, July 2 at Estadio 23 de Agosto before traveling to Salta for the second match a week later.

The tour will conclude on July 16 with a final match between the teams in Santiago Del Estero at the Estadio Único Madre de Ciudades.

Townsend said: “Having not been able to tour for the past two years, the summer tour to Argentina represents a great opportunity for our players to improve, build togetherness and represent their country once again.

“With the World Cup now less than 16 months away, it will help our players gain more game time and experience ahead of next season.

“The Test Series in Argentina will be a tough challenge as Argentina are a proud rugby nation with a strong home record.

“They will provide our forwards with a real test, but they also play a really open style of rugby under their new head coach, Michael Chieka. When you see the quality of Argentinian players that are currently playing in Europe, they have ability right across their squad.”

For the head coach, the tour will have long-term benefits as part of the build up to World Cup 2023.

“This is an opportunity for us to see our players in a touring environment which is what we’ll experience at the Rugby World Cup when we’ll be together for at least a month,” he said.

“We will be able to see how the players gel as a group and perform when they’re away from home for such a long time so it’ll really help us with our World Cup squad selections.

“It’ll also give us things to work on that we’ve identified in the last Autumn Nations Series and during the recent Six Nations.”