Rugby: Scotland to host Japan in free June friendly

A SCOTLAND XV will take on Japan A on Tuesday, 1 June, in warm-up match for this summer's tour to Argentina.

The match, which will feature members of the senior and A squads, will take place at Murrayfield (kick-off 7pm), and will be free to attend. Scotland head coach Andy Robinson will aim to tune up his players for the two-Test tour of Argentina, which begins on 12 June.

The same will apply to any of the A team involved ahead of the defence of the IRB Nations Cup in Romania later in the month.

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Robinson said: "We are looking forward to welcoming Japan A for the match at the start of June and it gives our players a chance to measure where they are in terms of fitness and performance.

"After a season of playing against European teams, it also gives the players an opportunity to broaden their rugby education where they will be coming up against a team from a different continent with a different style of rugby.

"Ahead of both the tour to Argentina and our defence of the Nations Cup, it is incredibly important that we prepare the right way and this fixture will be the first building block towards ensuring that we are suitably equipped for the challenges ahead."

A Scottish Rugby spokesman added: "We had looked at staging this match against Japan A at a different venue as we are very conscious that many of our supporters travel considerable distances to support the national team. However, the alternative venues that we were examining are not available at that time of year because re-seeding and pitch maintenance is taking place, so the game will be staged at Murrayfield and we look forward to welcoming supporters there."

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