Is Scotland v Italy on TV? Kick-off time and match details for first Rugby World Cup warm-up

Scotland’s Rugby World Cup preparations will step up a notch this weekend when they play Italy in a warm-up match at newly christened Scottish Gas Murrayfield.

Scotland captain Jamie Ritchie with the Cuttitta Cup after the Guinness Six Nations win over Italy in March. The sides will meet again at Murrayfield in a World Cup warm-up. (Photo by Ross Parker / SNS Group)

It’s the opening game of what is being billed as the Summer Nations Series, the umbrella name under which the leading nations’ World Cup preparation matches are being grouped over the next five weekends. Scotland and Italy get the ball rolling on Saturday and both teams have named semi-experimental line-ups for the match in Edinburgh.

Who: Scotland v Italy

What: Summer Nations Series

Where: Scottish Gas Murrayfield, Edinburgh

When: 3.15pm, Saturday, July 29

Referee: Ben O'Keeffe (NZ)

How to watch the match on TV

Amazon’s Prime Video has secured the rights to the Summer Nations Series in the UK and the first match being shown is Scotland v Italy. The subscription video and on-demand streaming service has broadcast the autumn internationals in recent seasons and its coverage can be accessed as part of Amazon’s Prime subscription. New customers can subscribe to a free 30-day trial.

Who else are Scotland playing in the Summer Nations Series?

After Italy, Scotland will take on France at Murrayfield on Saturday, August 5 (kick-off 3.15pm). A week later they will play the French again, at the Geoffroy-Guichard Stadium in Saint-Étienne. The match in France will kick off at 8.05pm UK time. Scotland’s fourth and final World Cup warm-up match is against Georgia at Murrayfield on August 26 (5.30pm).

Last time v Italy

Scotland are playing the Italians for the second time in a row. The sides met in the final match of the 2023 Six Nations, also at Murrayfield, with the Scots winning 26-14. Blair Kinghorn, playing at stand-off, scored a hat-trick of tries and winger Duhan van der Merwe notched one. Kinghorn converted three of them. Italy responded with a try from Tommaso Allan, who added two penalties. Paolo Garbisi kicked Italy’s other penalty.

New faces

Scotland and Italy have each named two uncapped players in their squads for Saturday. Stafford McDowall, picked at inside centre, and second-row forward Cameron Henderson, set to make his bow off the bench, are the new boys for Scotland. Italy are giving debuts to Zebre full-back Lorenzo Pani and Toulouse scrum-half Martin Page-Relo.