mens
international
Scotland will return to New Zealand the first time in 27 years to face All black people 2027 during the preparations for the Rugby World Cup.
BBC Sport Scotland reported on the rare match, which will be Scotland’s final warm-up before the trip to Australia for the World Cup opener against Uruguay.
The venue will be Dunedin’s Forsyth Barr Stadium, which will host an All Blacks match for the first time since 2025 when they played France as part of the July international competitions.
Scotland had been due to come to New Zealand in 2020 before Covid restrictions led to those plans being scrapped.
The previous Test between the two nations in New Zealand was in 2000 where Scotland were beaten 48-14 at Eden Park in Auckland.
This increases the workload for the All Blacks before the World Cup, up to seven test matches so far before the World Cup.
The Bledisloe series expands to three matches in 2027, with the first scheduled for Anzac weekend in Brisbane in April.
Full scale Rugby Championship it is also planned with six tests for each participating nation, with each rival twice.
In the previous one Rugby World Cup In 2008, the Rugby Championship was reduced to just three games in order to prioritize the Rugby World Cup.
Scotland is the first reported warm-up game for the All Blacks.
In 2023, the All Blacks played four Tests before traveling to Europe, playing a ‘friendly’ against the Springboks at Twickenham as a warm-up for a total of five.
The All Blacks’ fixtures before the 2027 World Cup now stand at eight games if the report is correct.
Scotland and New Zealand will meet at Murrayfield next month on the opening weekend Nations Championship fixtures.