The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Coach Blair urges Scots to rise to All Blacks challenge
Rugby union: Former captain delighted Kiwis have named strong squad
Scotland skills coach Mike Blair wants his players to embrace the challenge of proving themselves when they take on a strong New Zealand side this weekend.
The All Blacks named a near-full strength side to travel to Murrayfield today to the delight of the Scottish coaching setup.
The Dark Blues have made no secret of their desire to test themselves against the best in the world and gauge how far they have come as a side after a stunning win over Australia in the summer. Blair was particularly delighted to see coach Steve Hansen name such a strong side – with players such as Beauden Barrett and Kieran Read included – despite a busy schedule which saw them take on a France XV on Tuesday, three days after a Test.
“It’s great for Scottish rugby and great for the players going out there to play against the best team and a lot of the best individuals in the world,” the former Scotland skipper said. “It’s great for our crowd to see them but it’s a fantastic opportunity for us to mark ourselves up against them and see where exactly we are.
“We’ve had some fantastic results but we’re chuffed to bits with the team they’ve put out.”
He added: “They’ve got world-class players and if we give them time and quick ball, and let them run through their phases it will be a long day.
“We’ve had a lot of work this week after the Samoa game to try and tweak a few things in both attack and defensively so there will be some improvements.”
Scotland kicked off their international season with an entertaining, if slightly unconvincing, 44-38 win over Samoa last weekend and Blair is under no illusions that a similar performance will spell danger against the back-to-back world champions, who have set the standard for so long in the sport.
He said: “We were pleased with some of the aspects of our play (last week) but to play against New Zealand you will need to lift your performance anyway, and we as a group are aware that we have to play to the best of our ability to be in with a chance of winning Test matches whoever you play against.
“There’s been a step up in focus and there will need to be a step up in performance as well.”
However with the potential history that could be created in Edinburgh this evening – Scotland have never beaten the All Blacks – Blair says the squad will not be lacking for motivation. He said: “This is one of the biggest games of the year, playing the number one ranked team in the world in front of a sell out crowd. It’s going to be a really big one.”
“It’s great for Scottish rugby and great for the players”