Scots to face All Blacks in Autumn Tests
IT has been confirmed that Scotland will play New Zealand and Argentina, as well as their already announced game against Japan, in next year’s Autumn Test schedule.
The game against the Pumas will be the first of the three Murrayfield matches and will take place on the weekend of November 6, with the Japan match being played the following weekend, and the three-game series being concluded with the visit of the All Blacks on the weekend of November 20.
“To host Argentina, Japan and New Zealand at BT Murrayfield following our games against England and France in the Six Nations provides fantastic competitive challenges which we look forward to seeing our players embrace,” said Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend when welcoming the announcement of the schedule yesterday.
Before that, Scotland have two home Six Nations matches against England on February 8, 2020, and France on March 8 [tickets for this second game will go on public sale at 10am on Thursday, November 21], followed by a summer tour in July to South Africa [two Test matches] and New Zealand [one Test match].
The Autumn Test opener against Argentina will be the 19th meeting between the historically evenly matched opponents, whose head-to-head result count is level on nine wins apiece in 30 years of Test rugby. Scotland have, however, won the last five matches in a row – the 2016 win sandwiched by home-and-away doubles in 2014 and 2018.
The Japan game will offer Townsend’s team an opportunity to settle a few scores after defeat to the Brave Blossoms at last month’s World Cup ended their involvement in the tournament, while the All Blacks clash will be the first meeting between the sides since Scotland went agonisingly close to a historic first win in 2017 when, in the last minute, full-back Stuart Hogg was denied by a superb cover tackle from stand-off Beauden Barrett.
However, it is not clear which television channel these games will be shown on, with it seeming increasingly likely that a significant investment in European rugby by CVC Partners private equity firm will have drastically transformed the commercial landscape of the game by then.
It emerged over the weekend that a request for Merger and Acquisition clearance has been filed to the Irish Competition and Consumer Protection Commission which, if granted, would clear the way for CVC to buy a 27 per cent stake in the Guinness PRO14 league – competed for by teams from Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Italy and South Africa – for £120m, bringing a £35m windfall to the SRU.
It is accepted this is part of a grander plan to wrap all the TV rights from various leading rugby competitions and sell them as one mega-package.
CVC have already bought a share of the English Premiership and have entered “an exclusive period of negotiation” with Six Nations Limited to buy what is believed to be 15% stake for £300m (although some reports put that figure at £500m). The Six Nations deal is understood to include Autumn Test matches.
While the injection of such significant sums of cash represents a huge opportunity for the recipients, concerns have been expressed that the game will become less accessible to the average supporter as a result.
David Barnes