Gregor Townsend reveals New Zealand angle to tour plan and addresses Jonny Gray issue and Lions role
Scotland are planning a tour of the Pacific Islands next summer and hope to incorporate at least one match in New Zealand as part of the itinerary.
Gregor Townsend, the national coach, confirmed that the Scots will play Fiji and the likelihood is they will also play another Test match, probably against Tonga or Samoa. Planning is still at an early stage but Townsend would like to build in a New Zealand leg to the tour. That could see Scotland playing a Super Rugby franchise or maybe even the Māori All Blacks.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdReports from New Zealand, meanwhile, are suggesting that the All Blacks will play a full Test against Scotland at Murrayfield next year. No-one from Scottish Rugby has confirmed the fixture but it is understood that talks over a match in Edinburgh in November are ongoing. New Zealand have not played Scotland since 2022 when the All Blacks won 31-23.


“The summer tour that we are organising is to go to the South Seas,” said Townsend, who took Scotland on a four-match tour of North and South America in the summer past. “Fiji, we believe, is definitely one of the games. And we're trying to add another game as well, whether that's in New Zealand or in the Islands. So it's meant to be two Tests.
“But we are looking at whether we can play a third or even a fourth game, just to build on what we did last summer, giving more players a chance to play, which we thought was a real success, playing those four games last summer.”
He said playing Fiji away would be “a very tough game”. Scotland lost 27-22 in Suva the last time they played there, in 2017 during the very early days of Townsend’s reign.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdThe sides met at the start of this month at Murrayfield, with Scotland winning 57-17, but Fiji were missing most of their senior players because the match was played outside the designated Test window. Fiji, with their full squad, beat Wales in Cardiff a week later.
The 2025 summer tour would take place at the same time as the British & Irish Lions are in Australia so Scotland would likely be without several senior players, depending on how many are called up by Andy Farrell, the Lions head coach.


Townsend, who was the Lions attack coach on their last tour, to South Africa in 2021, said he had had no contact about joining the coaching team for next year. Asked if he would welcome the opportunity, Townsend said: “We'll see. The focus is on Six Nations and Scotland. And also we have a tough tour as well. Fiji in the summer is going to be a very tough game against a team who are also in the top eight in the world.”
Scotland signed off for the year with an impressive 27-13 win over Australia at Murrayfield on Sunday and will not now play again until the Six Nations opener at home to Italy on February 1. Despite the victory over the Wallabies, Townsend said he felt Scotland’s performance in the 32-15 defeat by South Africa was better.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad“The two big games, South Africa and Australia, are the ones that we measure ourselves with the best in the world,” said the coach. “And performance wise, I still believe South Africa was better than Sunday. But Sunday was a good win and a win at home for our supporters.”
Jonny Gray, the experienced second row forward, turned down the chance to be part of Scotland’s autumn squad in order to keep working on his fitness and play more games with Bordeaux-Begles after being out for 18 months with a knee issue. Townsend said he would keep the door open for Gray but warned that other locks had taken their chances.
.jpeg?crop=3:2,smart&trim=&width=640&quality=65)

“He's obviously missed this opportunity to play for his country,” said Townsend. “He was in good form leading up to November. But other players have played well. I thought both second rows [Grant Gilchrist and Scott Cummings] were excellent on Sunday. Max [Williamson], who got the chance to play against South Africa, was very good.
“We've had younger guys coming in like Alex [Samuel], Ewan Johnson and Alex Craig. Let's hope we have as big a group as possible to pick from. Cam Henderson should hopefully be back [from injury] as well, which will add to our depth.”
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdTownsend also batted away suggestions that Scotland’s highly rated defence coach Steve Tandy could be on Wales’ radar if they were to part company with Warren Gatland.
“He's contracted to us, so I don't think that's going to happen,” said Townsend.
Comments
Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.