Scotland enter the autumn with the chance to make a serious statement against two Southern Hemisphere heavyweights.
Gregor Townsend’s side welcome New Zealand and Argentina in between clashes against USA and Tonga, hoping to build on a Six Nations campaign in which they finished fourth.
That was perhaps disappointing for a squad packed with talent, with a 16-15 defeat against England particularly galling. Finn Russell’s last-gasp missed conversion meant Scotland had to hand back the Calcutta Cup trophy having had it firmly in their midst in recent times.
Townsend, meanwhile, has recently joined Red Bull, who took over Newcastle in the summer, as a global rugby advisor on a 30-day a year deal.
The news came shortly after he signed an extension to his Scotland deal taking in the 2027 World Cup and he believes the roles will complement each other nicely.
“It can help me as a coach and it can help the team,” he said.
The schedule
USA are first up at Scottish Gas Murrayfield. The Americans have not played in Edinburgh since the first-ever meeting between the sides 25 years ago, when Townsend contributed 33 points to a 53-6 win. Scotland have won eight of the nine meetings between the sides in all.
New Zealand then visit for a blockbuster clash, with Scotland looking for a historic first victory over the All Blacks having come close in 2017 and 2022, when the hosts led 23-14 going into the final quarter before going down 31-23.
Argentina, ranked two places above Scotland and fresh from beating both New Zealand and Australia in the Rugby Championship, visit on November 16 before a visit from Tonga concludes Scotland’s four fixtures. Squad news
Sione Tuipulotu, who became Lion #863 while touring the country of his birth this summer, returns to captain Scotland.
He is one of 11 Lions in the squad in total, with Russell set to pull the strings at fly-half and Duhan van der Merwe one away from reaching 50 caps for his country.
In the pack, Zander Fagerson returns having been ruled out of the summer Tour through injury while Scott Cummings, who featured in five Lions matches in 2025, is also selected.
There is no place for the injured Huw Jones, who shone in red in Australia, while uncapped forward trio Liam McConnell, Harri Morris and Alexander Masibaka are included.
Year to date
Scotland’s Six Nations campaign was up-and-down. They beat Italy and Wales comfortably, were well beaten by France and Ireland and edged out by England at Twickenham.
They headed to the Pacific over the summer and again had a mixed time of it. Impressive wins over the Maori All Blacks (29-26) and Samoa (41-12) sandwiched a 29-14 defeat at the hands of Fiji.
What they said
Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend told the BBC: "What we've gone through, good and bad, we're in the best position that we've been in, in the time that I've been here.
"When you look at other teams that have had success, there's a couple of common elements. One is player leadership, and we've now got some real leaders in our group.
"The other one is cap numbers, so now we're getting into the top four or five in the world of caps in our team. That means we're a cohesive team. We've not had many changes throughout our bigger games, our Six Nations and November Tests.
"With that, they play together, they've had experiences, but I feel that this team is in the best place ever, and I'm going to be a part of that for the next two years, so that's brilliant.
"I love the time I'm with the players, and summer tour was another reminder to me about the joy I get out of it, but also what we're capable of achieving."
