Selection is no slight on Scots, insists Hansen
NEW ZEALAND head coach Steve Hansen dismissed suggestions that he is t aking Scotland lightly by selecting virtually a secondstring side for tomorrow’s BT Murrayfield clash.
The All Blacks boss has made 13 changes to the team who defeated England 24-21 at Twickenham last weekend, with captain Richie McCaw retained but wearing the No 6 jersey for the first time in what will be his 137th match for his country.
Hansen surprised many with his selection despite the return of superstar stand-off Dan Carter, who is making his first international start in a year following injury.
‘We’re taking Scotland very seriously,’ insisted the Kiwi coach. ‘ We’ve already said that it’s a loseable game if we don’t prepare well and get our feet on the floor really quickly after last week.
‘We have a lot of respect for Scotland rugby but we’ve got our own plans and our own agenda that we’ve got to live by. I think people are totally misreading t he situation if they think we are not respecting them.
‘We know they always bring a really physical game to the park but what we’ve seen of late is that they are trying t o change t heir game, trying to play a fast game. And when teams do that and are successful at it, they score points.’
Asked why he thought New Zealand had dominated the fixture, with 27 wins and two draws in 29 previous meetings going back more than 100 years, he said: ‘I’m not sure why they haven’t managed it. A lot of it might be self-belief.
‘Success breeds success and the opposite can be said about losing.
‘What I do know is that if we l e ave t hem in t he competition for a large part of the game, then they will grow another arm and leg and become really dangerous. So we have to start well and put points on the board.’
Hansen does not fear any insight his fellow Kiwi coach Vern Cotter might bring to t he Scotland camp, however.
‘Well, he has never coached the All Blacks and he has been out of the country for eight years,’ he said. ‘So I’m not sure how much insight he has really got.’
Cotter, for his part, also insisted that the tourists were not being disrespectful with their team selection — and that they we r e determined to maintain their undefeated r un against the Scots.
‘Even during the Commonwealth Games Sevens t ournament in Glasgow, the New Zealand players were overhead talking amongst themselves how they did not want to be the first team to lose to Scotland at any level, be it Under- 2 0 , Sevens a nd certainly not at All Blacks level,’ said the Scotland boss.
‘ That i s why they are comfortable with the team they have selected to play us. Their coaching staff know those players will give it absolutely everything and they will be all the more dangerous for it.’
Cotter added that he did not think the changes — with the likes of 2011 World Cup winners Israel Dagg, Sam Whitelock and Kieran Read being left out of the squad completely — would disrupt the All Blacks.
‘What they do is their business,’ he said. ‘ These players who take us on, you may say, have less experience but will not be lesser players for New Zealand.
‘We are anticipating a very enthusiastic and dangerous team.’
The difference in approach to the match could not be more marked. While Hansen has r ung t he changes, Cotter, as exclusively revealed by Sportsmail, has shown faith i n the same starting XV that defeated Argentina last Saturday.
‘Logic will say we have no chance of winning this,’ he said. ‘ Reasonable people will say we have no chance but our players have big hearts and want to give this a crack.
‘We are focusing on what we can do and how we can s t ay in t here and be competitive right to the end.’