Air miles, altitude & Springboks - Scotland's arduous summer

Air miles, altitude & Springboks - Scotland's arduous summerImage source, SNSImage caption, Scotland take on Argentina, South Africa and Fiji in JulyByThomas DuncanBBC Sport ScotlandPublished20 minutes agoWhen it comes to challenges in rugby union, it does not get much tougher than the first half of Scotland's Nations Championship campaign.Two away matches against sides ranked in the world's top five - Argentina and South Africa - plus Fiji at Murrayfield on consecutive weekends in July.Throw in 18,000 air miles and the match against the world champions being at altitude after a long, hard season and the scale of the task facing Gregor Townsend's side becomes daunting.However, it is also an opportunity to take significant scalps and build towards the 2027 World Cup, as well as trying to make a mark in rugby's new competition.As Townsend explained: "It is a much tougher tour than ever before, certainly in the time I've been coach."Not only with the travel but the opposition. Three teams in the top nine in the world and one being the number one team [South Africa] in the world."Uncapped duo Hiddleston & Stephen in Scotland squadPublished9 hours agoLatest Scottish rugby news, views & analysisWhat is the Nations Championship?The Nations Championship is a new competition to pit the best of the northern hemisphere against the best of the southern hemisphere in non-World Cup years.Structure and formal competition have been brought to what were previously one-off Test matches and series happening in the summer and autumn.In July, the sides making up the Six Nations will each travel to play three of Argentina, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Fiji and Japan.In November, that will be reversed as Scotland, England, Wales, Ireland, France and Italy host three games each.Results will go towards two league tables, one for the northern sides and one for the southern.At the end of the six rounds, nations will play the eq...