Scotland to play summer Test in Fiji

Scotland look set to play in Fiji as part of their summer tour. It has been widely known that the Scots are touring Australia to play a quadrangular tournament against the host nation, Italy and Fiji, much as they did in 2013 in South Africa.
Niko Matawalu signed for Glasgow Warriors after Scotland last visited Fiji.Niko Matawalu signed for Glasgow Warriors after Scotland last visited Fiji.
Niko Matawalu signed for Glasgow Warriors after Scotland last visited Fiji.

Now it turns out that Scotland will also travel Fiji to play a Test against the islanders on their home soil, probably in the capital Suva.

The Scots were there as recently as 2012 and were a little lucky to come away with a handy Test win and a even handier scrum-half in the form of Niko Matawalu.

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Matawalu so impressed playing against Scotland on the day that he was promptly snapped up by Glasgow Warriors and became a firm favourite at Scotstoun.

Scotland will play the Wallabies in Australia but there have been some doubts cast on exactly where they will play the Azzurri. The thinking is that Scotland v Italy may not pack out the bleachers in Sydney or Brisbane but it may attract a sizeable expatriot audience en route to Australia, so Dubai, Singapore or Hong Kong are the obvious choices.

Scotland coach-in-waiting Gregor Townsend insisted that no formal announcement had been made yet on the tour but he did concede that Australia’s proximity to New Zealand, where the Lions are touring at the same time, might be useful if Warren Gatland needs some reserves in a hurry.

“We are only a couple of hours away,” he said. “Lions tours are pretty attritional and I would image players from all countries will be in line to be called up.”