Scotland A To Compete In Irb Nations Cup

Scotland A will compete in the IRB Nations Cup in Romania this June.  The announcement was made by the IRB this afternoon, the game’s worldwide governing body regarding the tournament as a key plank in its strategy to provide targeted Unions, such as Romania, Russia and Uruguay, with an expanded international match programme.Scotland A will take a 26-strong playing squad to the tournament and will face Russia on Friday 12 June; Uruguay on Tuesday 16 June and France A on Sunday 21 June. All the matches will be played at the Stadionul National Arcul de Triumf in the Romanian capital, Bucharest.Scottish Rugby’s Head of Performance, Henry Edwards, said: “The IRB asked us if we would be keen to be involved in the Nations Cup and we believe it will be a good opportunity both to promote the Scotland A team as our second national team but also to support the IRB’s global game development initiatives.”Our A team programme is likely to include one game during the Autumn Tests period, two games during the Six Nations period and three games during the Nations Cup.  That will help to raise the profile and importance of the Scotland A team,” he declared.Both the playing and management squads for Scotland A’s involvement in the Nations Cup are still to be finalised. The two other competing teams in the competition are Romania and Italy A. IRB Chairman, Bernard Lapasset, welcomed Scotland A’s involvement in the Nations Cup.  “We are delighted to be welcoming Scotland A and France A to the IRB Nations Cup for the first time.  The addition of two quality teams to the programme will serve to further heighten the global interest in what is now a major international tournament on the international rugby calendar,” he said.Last year’s tournament was won by Emerging South Africa but with the champions not participating due to the British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa, there’s the opportunity for a new name on the trophy.All teams play three games with four points for a win, two for a draw, one point for four or more tries and one point for a loss by seven points or less.