Scotland Rugby League’s World Cup warm-up fixture was today confirmed, with the Bravehearts set to face England Knights at Myreside, Edinburgh (Saturday 8 October, 13:30 kick Off)

The clash against the Knights will be Scotland’s first match on home soil since the Bravehearts’ 86-0 win against Serbia in 2019 – and their first fixture against the Knights since 2012.

Myreside, home of Rugby Union side Watsonians RFC, is in the centre of Edinburgh, and will see the men’s side return to the capital city having more recently played in Glasgow and Galashiels.

Nathan Graham’s side begin their preparations for the highly anticipated Rugby League World Cup with a training camp in Scotland’s capital, before locking horns with their rivals from the south.

The fixture is Scotland’s sole warm-up game, with the Knights providing a steep test before the Bravehearts take on Italy, Fiji and Australia at the World Cup.

The Knights are England Rugby League’s equivalent of the Lions in cricket and the Saxons in Rugby Union, and contain some of the most exciting young talent in Super League – and they have been coached for the last four years by Anderson, the former St Helens, Bradford Bulls and Great Britain forward.

On the fixture and training camp, Graham said:

Having a ‘pre world cup camp’ in Edinburgh before heading down to Newcastle gives our squad an extra four days to get together. There will be a few new faces in the mix so it will give them a chance to integrate and make our group as tight knit as ever.

Launching our World Cup campaign in Scotland will culminate in a warm-up game against England Knights. Without being able to have a meaningful mid-season international, I felt that we needed a tough game to kick us off and Paul Anderson’s team will certainly provide that.

It will give us the opportunity to go through some team stuff and try out some different combinations, which will enable us to fine tune our structure and get some cohesion going. I’d like to say a big thanks to Paul Anderson and the Knights set up for agreeing to travel up and give our boys a good challenge.

Scotland will be based in Newcastle for the duration of the World Cup, kicking off their campaign against Italy at Kingston Park on Sunday 16 October, 2.30pm. All of Scotland’s RLWC matches will be shown live across the BBC network.