Eden Park is one of rugby’s most celebrated citadels but is a stadium that holds few good memories for visiting Scotland teams. Gregor Townsend was assistant to Andy Robinson the last time the national side played there, in 2011, in a Rugby World Cup game against England of all teams. A late try by Chris Ashton condemned the Scots to a 16-12 defeat which ended their participation in the tournament. It was the first time they had been eliminated in the pool stage but not, sadly, the last. Prior to that, Scotland had played and lost to the All Blacks on five occasions at Eden Park, including in 2000 when Townsend played at centre in a 48-14 defeat. They return to the Auckland ground on Friday to play not New Zealand but Samoa in the final match of a tour that began brightly with a win over the Māori All Blacks in Whangārei but suffered a big setback last weekend in Suva where Scotland lost 29-14 to Fiji. Samoa may not be playing in their own country but Auckland is a home from home for them. It is estimated that around 120,000 Samoans live in the city and Townsend expects there to be boisterous support for the island country. “We were told months ago that the stadium in Apia in Samoa wasn't ready to host Test matches again,” explained Townsend. “And I don't know whether that was something to do with the stadium itself or the television links. And Eden Park is a great venue for Samoa too. “Obviously, the Samoans that live in Samoa will be disappointed they're not getting to see a Test match at home but there's a lot of Samoans that live in Auckland that will turn out on Friday night.” This is a game Scotland are expected to win and win well. Samoa are ranked 13th in the world, five places behind Townsend’s side who slipped to eighth following the defeat by Fiji. It is also a fixture that is laced with hazards. Townsend is mindful of the way Samoa beat Italy last summer and they will be a determined to make a winning start under their new coach Tusi Pisi who was at stand-off the last time the sides met, at the 2019 World Cup in Japan. Scotland won 34-0 and Grant Gilchrist is the only starter from the game in Kobe who is in Townsend’s XV for Eden Park. George Horne and Adam Hastings both came on in the second half and the Glasgow pair are again on the bench on Friday. Pisi has included six uncapped players in his 23 and among the new boys is Jacob Umaga, the Halifax-born Benetton fly-half who won a cap for England in 2021 but has now switched allegiance. His father, Mike, won 13 caps for Samoa in the 1990s, and Jacob is the nephew of All Blacks great Tana Umaga. Other notable names on the Samoa team-sheet include Akpi Seiuli, the former Glasgow Warriors loosehead, and Toulon centre Duncan Paia'aua who played for Australia in a non-cap game against the Barbarians. Samoa’s captain, Theo McFarland, is a back-row buddie of Andy Onyeama-Christie at Saracens and the pair will be in direct competition on Friday. Townsend expects it to be similar to the Fiji match in terms of the physical challenge. “All three teams we're playing against on this tour have similar traits,” said the Scotland coach. “Very powerful, dynamic players, very physical. They might produce something unexpected and the contact area is going to be a real battle. “We don't have that much information on Samoa. They've not played a Test match since July or August last year - they missed out on the November window. “They've got some quality players, some players that are playing around the world and players that played in the Super Rugby for Moana. What we know is they'll come out all guns blazing. “They'll have a big crowd behind them. They will have seen what Fiji did at times that gave them success in the game last week and I'm sure they'll want to repeat that.” Scotland’s poor discipline against Fiji was the biggest frustration for Townsend and the coach pointed out how the spiralling penalty count conspired to make the job of defending progressively harder. “I think it reminds the players that if you are giving the opposition penalties there's consequences and the consequences are that you're having to defend a few more phases, often in your own 22,” he said. “And those are harder areas to defend and there's more consequences there if you don't defend well. “But it happens in games, it's never going to be perfect and I don't want to take anything away from Fiji, because they obviously had some really good moments. “I don't think I've seen that penalty count for a while. I think it was 14 against us and three yellow cards in the end, so it's going to be hard to win a Test match with those stats and we definitely don't want to see anything like that this week.” Townsend, meanwhile, has wished Edinburgh prop Boan Venter all the best for his South Africa debut. The loosehead would have become Scottish-qualified on residency grounds in time for next year’s Six Nations but was called up by Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus and will start Saturday’s game against Georgia in Nelspruit. Asked if he was a player he would have wanted for Scotland, Townsend said: “It's really hypothetical. He wasn't going to be available for a few months, so with players that you know are going to qualify on residency, yes of course they're in your mind and if they're good enough at that time they could come into the squad. But it's hypothetical until it happens and it's not going to happen now. “I think he's been one of the best players in the URC the last two or three years. I think this year was probably his best season and whether it's the set-piece or his ball-carrying, he's really impressed. “So we wish him all the best. He's now embarking on an international career and it shows the quality of the player he is.” Friday, 8.35am BST, Eden Park, Auckland. Samoa: 15. Latrell Ah Kiong; 14. Tuna Tuitama, 13. Duncan Paia’aua, 12. Henry Taefu, 11. Tomasi Alosio; 10. Jacob Umaga, 9. Melani Matavao; 1. Akpi Seiuli, 2. Pita Anae-Ah Sue, 3. Michael Ala’alatoa, 4. Benjamin Petaia Nee-Nee, 5. Samuel Slade, 6. Theo McFarland (capt), 7. Jonah Mau’u, 8. Taleni Seu. Replacements: 16. Luteru Tolai, 17. Kaynan Sitiene-Tua, 18. Marco Fepuleai, 19. Michael Curry, 20. Niko Jones, 21. Iakopo Mapu, 22. Connor Tupai, 23. Rodney Iona. Scotland: 15. Kyle Rowe; 14. Kyle Steyn, 13. Rory Hutchinson, 12. Stafford McDowall, 11. Arron Reed; 10. Fergus Burke, 9. Jamie Dobie; 1. Rory Sutherland, 2. Ewan Ashman, 3. Elliot Millar Mills, 4. Gregor Brown, 5. Grant Gilchrist, 6. Andy Onyeama-Christie , 7. Rory Darge (capt), 8. Matt Fagerson. Replacements: 16. George Turner, 17. Nathan McBeth, 18. Fin Richardson, 19. Cameron Henderson, 20. Marshall Sykes, 21. Ben Muncaster, 22. George Horne, 23. Adam Hastings. Referee: Jordan Way (Aus).