Friday night first for farewell fixture

Scotland’s final Summer Test before the Rugby World Cup in Japan will be hosted under Friday night floodlights at BT Murrayfield for the first time in the team’s history.

Scotland’s 2019 summer series features two pairs of back-to-back fixtures against France and Georgia.

The schedule begins away against France on Saturday 17 August, before hosting a return fixture against Les Bleus at BT Murrayfield a week later (Saturday 24 August).

The first leg of the double header against Georgia follows on Saturday 31 August, where Scotland will be the first Tier 1 nation to face the Lelos on home soil at the Dinamo Arena in Tbilisi.

The national team will then complete its competitive preparations for RWC2019 on home soil, when they face Georgia on a floodlit Friday night (6 September) at the home of Scottish rugby, just three days before jetting off to Japan.

Scotland Head Coach, Gregor Townsend, said: “It’s really exciting to finalise the details of our last Test before we leave for the Rugby World Cup.

“Historically night games at BT Murrayfield are very special occasions so I expect it’ll be a great send-off for the team who will then have a full weekend to spend with their families before leaving for the World Cup three days later [9 September].”

Scotland’s final, 31-man Scotland squad will travel to Nagasaki for a holding camp on the eve of RWC2019, hosted through Scottish Rugby’s strategic alliance with Nagasaki City signed in 2016.

The camp aims to help the squad acclimatise to the local conditions and the time difference before the team’s official entrance to the game’s quadrennial, global showpiece event.