SRU opts out of three-Test tours against the big guns

• Andy Robinson: welcomes downgraded schedule. Picture: PA

Robinson, in conjunction with the Scottish Rugby Union's new director of performance, Graham Lowe, a Kiwi who quit the New Zealand Rugby Union to take up the new post in Scotland, both do not believe it is in Scotland's best interests to continue with Test series tours of the southern hemisphere.

It marks a major change in strategy for the national team, and represents a gamble. The agreed long-term schedule – touring arrangements are now in place up to and including 2018 – will be inherited by Robinson's eventual successor as Scotland coach, who might not share the current incumbent's thinking.

The agreement means that while England, Wales, Ireland and France will move to expanded tours from 2012 onwards, with midweek matches restored alongside three-Test series, Scotland will drop down to just one-off Tests in New Zealand, South Africa and Australia, which will mostly act as warm-ups for those countries' big Tests against the other Six Nations.

The international tours schedule announced by the game's worldwide governing body, the IRB, for the next eight years sees Scotland host the three Southern Hemisphere big guns – Australia, New Zealand and South Africa – a total of nine times between 2012 and 2018.

During that time they will also welcome Argentina to Murrayfield on three occasions.

Scotland – who pioneered the short tour 50 years ago and have also had a history of undertaking tours to emerging rugby nations – will visit Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Argentina, the Pacific Islands, Japan and North America during the schedule. In British and Irish Lions tour years – 2013 and 2017 – Scotland will feature in tournaments involving one of the Southern Hemisphere's big three and other countries, the details of which are being finalised at present.

Robinson said: "I am very pleased with the tours schedule. We have a first-rate programme of autumn Tests incoming to Murrayfield, which are important for our rugby development.

"As far as our overseas tours are concerned I do not believe it would be beneficial for us to play a series of three Tests against the individual SANZAR countries at the end of our season.

"What I believe works for us, from a performance perspective, is a mix between SANZAR and Tier 2 unions as that gives us the opportunity to develop players which is part and parcel of touring."

Lowe said: "I'm delighted our request to the IRB for parity and equity in the November tour schedule has been accepted and that our preference for mixed tours in June has been agreed.

"Like Andy, I firmly believe the schedule, as outlined, will assist with our rugby development and importantly develops solid relationships with some of rugby's emerging nations."

It is a bold move, one that has inevitably provoked criticism from Scotland supporters across the world, and some New Zealanders, who believe that the two nations are still key pillars within world rugby. The IRB rankings show that Scotland are, in fact, some way behind the All Blacks, eight ranking places to be exact with the Scots having fallen out of the top ten before rising back to a current ninth spot.

Jim Telfer, who as Scotland and British and Irish Lions coach led several tours to the southern hemisphere, questioned a decision to opt out of full tours to SANZAR nations and switch instead to one-Test visits.

He said: "If you want to think like the best and challenge the best I think you have to play the best. If you want to win the Six Nations and surely we still believe that we should be aiming for that then I think you have to prepare like the other teams in the Six Nations.

"So, my fear is that if England, Wales, Ireland and France are heading off for three-Test tours each summer, and using these to develop their players, we will be left behind by not doing the same. It's like just accepting that we are where we are; we're just going to be 10th or 11th in the world.

"You can pick up tours and development games against Tier 2 nations quite easily, but what the Tests against the top nations bring is the development of your better players. It gives them the opportunity to test themselves and push themselves, especially in back-to-back Test series, in a way they can't get playing games domestically."

The SRU felt compelled to release their tour dates yesterday because of the publicity generated by New Zealand's announcement of their schedule earlier this week, which revealed no Scotland tour, but they are still working on tying up the exact nature of their tours. In 2013 and 2017, for example, the years that the British and Irish Lions tour, there are plans for a tournament featuring a number of nations, including Scotland, held in a different southern hemisphere nation to the tour. Scotland could play the likes of Fiji, Italy and the Springboks in South Africa while the Lions are in Australia.

Edinburgh lock Scott MacLeod has been called into the Scotland squad for next month's two-Test tour of Argentina.

MacLeod's fellow lock Nathan Hines is unable to tour following the death of his mother-in-law.