Beginning in North America, Scotland play Canada (Saturday 6 July, TD Place in Ottawa) for the first time since 2018 in Edmonton where Scotland ran out 48-10 winners. The squad then travel to Washington DC where they play USA (Friday 12 July, Audi Field, Washington DC) for the first time in six years. In their last meeting they were edged out by a point, losing 30-29 in Houston.

The South American leg of the tour starts in Santiago where they play Chile (Saturday 20 July, Estadio Nacional, Santiago) where Scotland A won 45-5 two years ago. (Following that match, Chile defeated USA to qualify for the 2023 Rugby World Cup.) The tour concludes in Uruguay (Saturday 27 July, Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo) which marks the first time the two sides have played each other since the 1999 Rugby World Cup, in a match Scotland won 43-12 (with a certain Gregor Townsend scoring a try!)

Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend said when the tour was announced: “Having the ability to play four games on the Skyscanner Americas Tour is a brilliant opportunity for us. It will enable us to spend added time working with a wider group of players, building more cohesion with our squad and also giving more players experiences of preparing for and playing Test match rugby.

“With the travel demands and contrasting styles of rugby from the four nations we face, we will be challenged on and off the field to deliver quality performances. Touring is a great way for a group to build closer bonds and I’m sure we’ll see new players come through and thrive in our environment.”

THE SCOTLAND SQUAD

Gregor Townsend has named a 37-man squad for the Skyscanner Americas Tour, with 10 players (Nathan McBeth, Patrick Harrison, Robbie Smith, Will Hurd, Max Williamson, Ewan Johnson, Gregor Brown, Gus Warr, Arron Reed and Matt Currie ) in contention for an international debut.

The 10 uncapped players join a raft of experienced names who played in Scotland’s 2024 Guinness Six Nations campaign with Rory Darge, Luke Crosbie, Javan Sebastian, Elliot Millar-Mills, Ewan Ashman, Rory Sutherland, Ben Healy, Harry Paterson, George Horne, Kyle Rowe, Stafford McDowall, Duhan van der Merwe, Sione Tuipulotu, Matt Fagerson, Pierre Schoeman, Scott Cummings and Kyle Steyn all touring. Jamie Ritchie and Huw Jones are also included, with both players close to reaching half-century milestones for their country. Flanker Ritchie is just one cap shy with centre Jones two away from the same landmark.

Watch Townsend discuss his squad selection in a Scottish Rugby Podcast special with Chris Paterson and Caroline Blair.