Wales will break new ground by opening their 2018 autumn series with a historic fixture against Scotland — the first top-tier northern hemisphere visitors to feature in the Tests since a four-match end-of-year campaign was introduced 17 years ago.

The all-Celtic affair will see the ancient rivals play for the Doddie Weir Cup at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on November 3.

Southern hemisphere teams have almost exclusively provided the opposition for Wales during the autumn window, with Australia making 12 visits to Cardiff and New Zealand featuring 10 times.

But there will be a twist this year when Gregor Townsend’s resurgent Scottish team travel down to take on Warren Gatland’s side.

It will be only the second meeting between the countries outside the Five or Six Nations in the 135-year history of the fixture, with the first seeing Wales win a World Cup warm-up 23-9 in Cardiff in 2003.

And playing for Doddie Weir Cup, donated by the Welsh Rugby Union, is bound to add a certain poignancy to the occasion.

Weir, the hugely popular former Scotland international and British & Irish Lion, is battling Motor Neurone Disease and, from the outset of his illness, he has been driven to help fellow sufferers and seek ways to further research into the, as yet, incurable condition.

The player and his trustees launched the registered charity ‘My Name’5 Doddie Foundation’ and a series of Welsh rugby initiatives over the course of the weekend will raise money for the foundation and bring Scottish and Welsh rugby communities together.

Wales and Scotland will play for the new trophy when they meet under similar circumstances in future.

The Welsh Rugby Union hope the match-up will prove a huge success and encourage a range of fixtures across the community game, in line with the traditional encounters that have long taken place when the two countries meet.

Wales clash with Townsend’s team in a Six Nations date on February 3 but it is hoped the appeal of the fixture, with all its history, will mean the date later in the year will still prove a major hit with supporters.