Scotland welcomes IRB decision to increase rugby tour opportunities

That is the view of the Scottish Rugby Union and other leading figures within the game as unions throughout the world begin to dissect the plans that are due to come into force from 2012.

In simple terms, the decision announced this week will mean nations like Scotland, who have been knocked off the radar of the top countries – Scotland have not enjoyed a Test tour of New Zealand since 2000 – having major two or three-Test tours restored on a rotational basis and that more nations from the northern hemisphere will play midweek matches down south and the likes of New Zealand and South Africa will include more midweek games when they tour the UK.

Dominic McKay, the SRU director of communications, said: "We are happy that we can now have a ten-year schedule because that is hugely beneficial to planning, and also to our players, coaches, supporters and sponsors, to know where we will be going each year for the next decade. The IRB are keen to ensure leading nations tour not only Tier One but also Tier Two nations, like the Pacific Islands, Japan and North America, and so more Test matches there will be back on the horizon again. We believe that is good for the game. There is a bit of fine-tuning to be done now before we are in a position to confirm what tours we will have from 2012, but I think this is great news for Scottish rugby."

The Tier Two nations McKay referred to do not include Scotland, but the fact the Scots have enjoyed only one two-Test tour to one of the southern hemisphere's 'big three' in the past six years – South Africa in 2006 – highlights how the country has been marginalised in a similar fashion to that of the Pacific Islands and North America in recent times.

One of the most experienced Scotland tourists is Jim Telfer, who was among the first players to tour with Scotland in the southern hemisphere in the 1960s and has since played and coached on numerous tours with Scottish and British and Irish Lions squads. He believes the IRB move is crucial to the development of Scottish players, but also to re-instil some enjoyment. He said: "I think they felt when professionalism came in that players should not enjoy themselves and that was why nations lobbied to cut tours down, and get rid of midweek games.

"Now, a decade or so on, I think they're realising that pro players can enjoy themselves, and need to enjoy themselves, and that touring can provide both the intensity of rugby you need but also the different scene that keeps players enthusiastic.

"There is no doubt this move could help Scottish rugby particularly. I used to believe that I could see an improvement in a Scottish player of about 25 per cent after he had been on a proper tour to somewhere like New Zealand or South Africa. That applied more to the amateur or early professional days when our players did not have the standard of domestic competition that they have now, and so it might not be 25 per cent now, but there is still a significant benefit from these kinds of tours that our players just can't experience anywhere else. It's disappointing that we've had only one Test tour to South Africa in the past six years, nothing in Australia since 2004 and no Tests in New Zealand since 2000.

"Playing Heineken Cup games is good for our players, but it is a step-up again to play even a midweek side in South Africa or New Zealand, never mind the quality of a Test match in these countries. It is not just the game itself; it's the environment, the expectations, the interest, the atmosphere and the intensity that you get on a tour there. You cannot replicate that here."

Scotland head coach Andy Robinson is a great advocate of the longer tours, largely because Test squad time is becoming ever-more restricted and tours with midweek games would allow for development rather than a basic focus on winning a Test match. Scotland are now primed to head to New Zealand for the Rugby World Cup in 2011 and then to Australia, with games also against Pacific Islands nations, in 2012, and Japan also on the horizon.

However, Telfer did add a word of warning. "The tours are beneficial provided you don't go out there with weak squads like lambs to the slaughter," he said. "We couldn't take squads of 44 or so, like England could, for example. We'd maybe take 32 or 35, which would mean we couldn't have two separate squads, but would have to mix and match a bit for the midweek and Test squads. But that's a good thing as well. I sometimes think that our top professionals are a bit cosseted now; the internationalists don't mix the same, day in, day out, with younger players coming through, which is not their fault; it's just the way the system operates. Tours were always a great opportunity to bring players together and I liked the way youngsters learned from the older players and came back bolder as a result.

"It's good for Scottish rugby and I'm sure supporters will like to see Scotland facing the All Blacks in New Zealand again."