Gregor Townsend is confident his Scotland squad won’t be burdened by the weight of history when they look to land an elusive victory over the All Blacks this weekend.
No Scotland team has ever beaten New Zealand in 32 attempts, a record that stretches back 117 years, and they will be outsiders again as they look to finally break that sorry sequence at Murrayfield on Saturday.
The visitors arrived in Edinburgh yesterday from Chicago, fresh from a morale-boosting 26-13 win over Ireland at Soldier Field. And while Scotland are also bolstered by their record-breaking 85-0 victory over the United States, Townsend acknowledged that the scale of the challenge now rises dramatically.
The head coach, though, believes there is no need to focus too much on the mental side of things this week in a bid to get over that long-running hex.
Instead, he says he only needs to point to the two most recent meetings between the countries — in 2017 and 2022, when Scotland ran them close — as evidence that beating the All Blacks is not an impossible mission.
‘I don’t think (additional mental preparation) will be that much of an issue,’ said Townsend. ‘It’ll be looking at scenarios in games, whether we’re up or we’re behind, and how we’re together, how we’re reacting to errors and how we’re reacting to the game.
Gregor Townsend is confident about his side’s chances against New Zealand at Murrayfield
Darcy Graham scores a try against the All Blacks in 2022 as the Scots threatened a huge upset
Huw Jones crosses for a try in 2017 as Scotland once again ran the Kiwis close
‘But I believe this team will know they have the players to beat anyone — and New Zealand as our next opponent. They’ve also been involved in two very close games with them, where we were ahead by about 10 points in the last game, which was only three years ago.
‘So maybe that weight of history before doesn’t affect this team because we’ve had two very competitive fixtures against New Zealand.’
Townsend doesn’t believe that the All Blacks’ transatlantic travel will have any detrimental effect on their preparations. And with the new Nations League due to start next summer, the head coach says it is something Scotland players are also going to have to get familiar with.
‘New Zealand are used to it,’ he added. ‘They go to South Africa and Argentina for Rugby Championship games. And it’s not too far away, is it? Six or seven hours? It’s not as far as our (Glasgow Warriors) guys who had to go to South Africa between a URC semi and final.
‘We’re all going to have to get used to travelling, because this new tournament in the summer you go to three different countries. And New Zealand, Argentina and South Africa have been used to that much more than us.
‘(New Zealand) will probably mix up their team. You’d think that would be one way of getting over a game in the USA, to play the bench guys or play guys that didn’t play on Saturday.’
Darcy Graham scores a try to put Scotland 21-0 ahead in their one-sided Test against the USA
Townsend will gather his squad together this morning to review the United States thrashing before releasing several fringe players who won’t be involved in the last three matches. Alex Masibaka, the uncapped back-rower, has already gone back to Montpellier with an elbow injury.
The other French-based players, Ben White, Jamie Ritchie and Blair Kinghorn, were all due to join up with the group last night, and Townsend is looking forward to finally having the full squad at his disposal.
He added: ‘We’ll get everybody in on Monday to review the game. We owe it to the players that played (on Saturday) to be part of the review but probably four or five players will drop out.
‘Thirty-eight players is a good number for us. We can protect the matchday 23 in training and then play against 15. And you probably have to go one or two more than that because there’s always bumps in training. So, 40 should be about what we’ll get to.’
There will be several selection dilemmas for Townsend to ponder, too, most notably at scrum-half after Jamie Dobie excelled in a man-of-the-match performance against the USA, scoring a hat-trick.
With George Horne also in good form and White arriving after featuring on this summer’s British and Irish Lions tour, Townsend knows it’s not a straightforward call.
He added: ‘I think we are in a fantastic position with the three scrum halves. Jamie, in this form, is absolutely crucial. He’s got a strong running game and can play on the wing very well, too.
Jamie Dobie touches down for Scotland’s fourth try in an eye-catching run out at scrum-half
‘George is playing the best rugby of his career. So, it’s going to be a tough selection next week because Ben had a brilliant Lions tour and has started the season well with Toulon. So, you just hope that the three of them are fit for the whole series because they’re great options for us.’
Kyle Steyn is also expected to push for a starting spot on the wing but Townsend admitted he was impressed both with Darcy Graham, who scored a hat-trick, and Duhan van der Merwe, who got two tries on his 50th appearance against the USA.
‘Duhan spoke very well in the changing room about the last five years and what a special experience it’s been for him. He was emotional — I think you saw that when he ran out.
‘He also knows there’s a lot of competition in that position. Kyle Rowe’s played very well for us, whether at wing or full-back, Kyle Steyn’s in great form and there’s Jamie as well on the wing. Arron Reed is another in our squad. They’re bringing the best out of each other.’
