How do Scotland improve after yet another Six Nations disappointment? Certainly not by undertaking a four-match summer tour against Canada, USA, Uruguay and Chile.
Why the powers that be at Murrayfield agreed to such an arduous schedule at the end of what will have been a long, hard season is hard to understand.
Full-back Harry Paterson will have learned more from making his Scotland debut against France in the Six Nations than he ever will by playing in most of these games which he might have to do as Blair Kinghorn, who had a very poor Six Nations, will want a rest.
Whether Scotland’s star players such as Kinghorn, Finn Russell and Duhan van der Merwe - all of whom started their season at the World Cup in France back in September - even want to tour in the first year of a new four-year World Cup cycle remains to be seen. You couldn’t blame them if they didn’t.
It could be argued - and it will be - that taking on four tier two nations will give new Scottish talent a chance to shine. It’s a nice idea but where exactly are these stars of the future supposedly knocking on the door for a Scotland call-up?
The Scotland under-20 team lost every single match of their Six Nations campaign and there wasn’t anybody apart from flanker Freddy Douglas who really stood out.
Even among those currently involved in the Scotland squad the summer tour won’t matter much. Ben Healy knows that as things stand he is and always will be the understudy to Finn Russell at fly-half and doesn’t need a run out over the summer to keep his position in the pecking order.
The hierarchy at World Rugby are delighted that Scotland have agreed to play in both the northern and southern hemispheres against teams desperate to take on tier one opposition.
World Rugby head of communications Dominic Rumbles, posted on X that it was ‘superb ‘ to see Scotland touring the Americas. ‘Rugby in the Americas is on the rise and such exposure to top level competition will make a difference,’ he wrote.
He made no mention of how the tour would benefit Scotland. Maybe he couldn’t think of one.
Scotland should be taking on tier one nations this summer and every summer - not tier two teams all the time. By all means, take them on during a tour but make sure you also face top nations as well.
England face Japan before playing back-to-back Tests against New Zealand which is the perfect mix.
Ireland have two mouth-watering Tests against world champions South Africa. Wales, who finished bottom of the Six Nations table, have got two away fixtures against Australia while France take on Argentina in South America in early July.
Italy have got just one summer fixture confirmed at the moment and that is against Japan.
Scotland are being treated as second class rugby citizens over the carve-up of the summer tours and that has to stop.
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