British & Irish Lions: Japan match at Murrayfield set to have 16,500 spectators

A crowd of 16,500 is set to watch the British and Irish Lions’ warm-up match against Japan at Murrayfield.

The last international rugby match attended by fans in Scotland was during the Six Nations in March 2020.

Japan’s visit will come four days after 12,000 fans watch Scotland’s football team host Croatia at Hampden in their final Euro 2020 group game.

Murrayfield has a capacity of just over 67,000, while its football equivalent in Glasgow holds a maximum of nearly 52,000.

Plans to have 600 fans at football’s Scottish Cup final on Saturday were shelved after Glasgow remained in the government’s third tier of restrictions.

Lions managing director Ben Calveley said: “It will be brilliant to see a passionate crowd back at Murrayfield for what promises to be a superb game of rugby.

“We are very grateful to the Scottish government for its commitment and support to ensure this fixture would be seen by a live audience.”

Scotland national clinical director Jason Leitch said the match had been “carefully considered by the Scottish government” and the capacity would “be kept under review”.

And Leitch explained: “This is the same process used to set the capacity for the Euros at Hampden and for other internationally significant events during the summer.”