As they prepare for rugby league’s Four Nations Championship this autumn which includes their first ever meeting with England at senior level the Scotland side will be one of the first senior international teams to take advantage of the new Oriam facility.
Setting up camp at the new national sports centre on the outskirts of the capital ahead of travelling south for the tournament which will also involve clashes with antipodean giants New Zealand and Australia is a bid to maximise the domestic profile of the team in the wake of the disappointment of missing out on hosting one of their matches in Scotland.
Negotiations had reached an advanced stage regarding facing the world number one Kiwis at Scotstoun, but fell through as a result of the pitch problems that caused a succession of problems around the turn of the year for the Glasgow Warriors rugby union side that is based there.
“It is a real shame we’ve been unable to bring this tournament, which is going to be televised live on the BBC, to Scotland. However the great thing is that there was goodwill from all those involved in the discussions which bodes well in terms of looking to the future on the back of the raised profile we will get from involvement in the Four Nations and next year’s World Cup,” said Keith Hogg, chairman of Scotland Rugby League.
They will instead complete the round-robin section of the competition by meeting the world’s number one side on Friday, November 11 at what became home from home for Scotland during the 2013 World Cup in which they were very much the tournament’s surprise package, Workington Town on the Cumbrian coast.
Their opener is against Australia at the KC Lightstream Stadium in East Hull, home of Hull Kingston Rovers, on Friday 28 October, a first ever meeting with what is traditionally the world’s leading rugby league nation ahead of that historic encounter with England.
That promises to be all the more special since it will be part of a Fireworks Night double-header at Coventry’s Ricoh Arena with the England - Scotland clash kicking off at 5.30pm ahead of an ANZAC encounter on what is poignantly also the weekend before Remembrance Sunday.
"Having the fixtures confirmed, knowing what stadiums we're going to be playing in and when, just makes the whole thing even more exciting,” said head coach Steve McCormack, who coached Scotland through their World Cup campaign which ended with a highly respectable performance against New Zealand in the quarter-finals.
“It's going to be a real honour to coach a Scotland side against both England and Australia for the very first time, and getting the chance to face up to New Zealand again. We've planned our whole Four Nations itinerary already and know where we are training, where we're staying and when we go into camp.”
Considerable groundwork has already been done in terms of putting together a team that can compete at this level with a handful of antipodean-born players with Scottish heritage having been recruited including established Scotland trio Peter Wallace of Penrith Panthers, Luke Douglas of Gold Coast Titans, Kane Linnett of North Queensland Cowboys and newcomers Euan Aitken of St George Illawarra Dragons and Billy McConnachie of Ipswich Jets/Brisbane Broncos.
"Everyone saw at the World Cup and the Europeans in 2014 that we've got some fantastic talented players in Super League and the NRL that will be so proud to represent Scotland again and some exciting young players coming through,” said McCormack.
“We will add a couple of players to the pool, too, which should strengthen us for this year and the World Cup next year. I can't wait!"
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