Scotland to face All Blacks in Dunedin before 2027 Rugby World Cup

Scotland will play New Zealand in Dunedin as their final international before the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia, BBC Sport reported. The fixture will take Gregor Townsend's team back to face the All Blacks on New Zealand soil for the first time in 27 years.

Watch the highlights:

The Scots last played an away Test against New Zealand in July 2000, when they lost 48-14 at Eden Park. A proposed return in the summer of 2020 was cancelled during the Covid pandemic. The teams also have a nearer meeting scheduled at Murrayfield next month as part of the Nations Championship.

According to the BBC, Scotland's World Cup preparation will include home and away fixtures against France, repeating an arrangement used before the 2019 and 2023 tournaments. They have chosen three warm-up internationals rather than the four used ahead of some earlier editions. After the Dunedin match, the squad will travel to Australia for the tournament.

World Rugby's published schedule places Scotland in Pool D alongside Ireland, Uruguay and Portugal. Their opening match is against Uruguay in Melbourne on Sunday, 3 October. They then face Ireland in Perth on 10 October before completing their pool fixtures against Portugal in Brisbane on 17 October, with a different host city for each game.

The competition Scotland are preparing for will have a different structure from previous men's World Cups. World Rugby has expanded the field to 24 teams, divided into six pools of four, and introduced a round of 16. The first two teams in each pool will advance, together with the four strongest third-placed teams, creating an additional route into the knockout stage.

That change means Scotland will play three pool matches instead of four. Although there is an extra knockout round, World Rugby says a team reaching the final will still play seven matches in total, as in 2023. The tournament will feature 52 games rather than 48, with a minimum of five rest days between matches and an overall duration of 43 days.