NEWS: Scotland’s July tour plans for 2025 have been confirmed.

They will take on the Māori All Blacks, followed by Fiji and Samoa.

The tour kicks off with a match against the Māori All Blacks on Saturday, July 5, 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, Edinburgh 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, July 12 at Buckhurst Park in Suva, marking Scotland’s first game on Fijian soil since 2017.

Scotland’s last match against Fiji took place in November 2024 where the home side ran out 57-17 winners with Darcy Graham scoring four tries.

The tour will finish on Friday, July 18 where Scotland take on Samoa.

The last time the two sides played against each other was in 2019, when Scotland won 34-0 during the 2019 World Cup.

The match will take place in Auckland, New Zealand at the historic Eden Park.

Scotland’s 2024 July tour, in the Americas, represented a valuable opportunity with 11 players making their debut.

The matches allowed the players the chance to impress on the international stage and provided a catalyst for them to shine for the national team, with the likes of Max Williamson producing a stand-out performance against South Africa and Gregor Brown playing in every Six Nations match this year.

The article continues below…

Scotland head coach Gregor 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.”

“Playing against the Māori All Blacks will be a proper introduction to New Zealand rugby and they will provide a strong test, especially in the contact area.

“Fiji have shown over the past few seasons that they are a rising force in world rugby and will relish the chance of playing a Six Nations country at home.

“We will be challenged in attack and defence as well as very different weather conditions that we are used to in the northern hemisphere.

“Finally, Samoa are one of the most physical teams in world rugby with how hard they hit in the tackle.

“They were very competitive at the 2023 World Cup and secured an impressive win over Italy last season.

“Playing at Eden Park is a wonderful opportunity for both teams and it will be a great setting to end our tour of the South Pacific.

“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.”