OUR BOYS WILL GET FIRED UP BY HAKA

READ ANDY NICOL’S VERDICT IN SPORTSMAIL ON MONDAY

IT does not get any bigger, better or tougher than playing the All Blacks. It tests every part of your being — physically, mentally, emotionally and maybe even spiritually.

If you have a weakness, they will identify it and exploit it. There are no hiding places. Eat, or be eaten.

I loved and hated playing the All Blacks in equal measure. I loved it because it was the ultimate challenge and stretched you to be everything you could possibly be. I hated it because e they were so good and there ere was always the chance ce that you could get an n absolute hiding.

I played against the All Blacks more than I did against Australia and South Africa combined — j ust because we always toured theree every four years or so.o. We did this because the likes of Jim Telfer and nd Ian McGeechan felt it was the best place for Scotland to tour due to the amount we could learn from playing in a country like New Zealand.

A lot of New Zealanders are descended from Scotland, the climate is very similar but, sadly, they have always been slightly better t han us at r ugby. McGeechan says that he thinks New Zealanders are just Scots who have learned how to win!

I do know what it feels like to beat the All Blacks, though. I was lucky enough to play for a World XV in 1992 to celebrate the New Zealand Rugby Union centenary and we played the All Blacks three times in a week.

I played in the first Test with players like Tim Horan, Jeremy Guscott and some fellow Scots — David Sole, Gavin Hastings and Derek White — and we won 28-14. In fac fact, we battered them that day and, as it was the first time I had pl played them, It thought this would c continue.

I played them a f further six times in m my career and it is f fair to say they got th their revenge as we los lost all six. Th The last game turned out to be my final cap for Scotlan Scotland in 2001 and that game summed up what it is like to face the All Blacks and what could happen today.

We played very well for 70 minutes to be only 15-6 down, but we had expended so much energy just to keep in touch with them that we had nothing left in the last 10, and they ran in three tries.

I was substituted with 10 minutes to go and I could barely put one foot in front of the other I was so tired. I was emptied and had absolutely nothing left to give.

But it wasn’t enough, and this is why facing the All Blacks is such a challenge.

The game today will be one of the fastest, hardest games the Scottish players will have ever played.

It will be a couple of notches up from last week against Argentina and they will also have to experience the haka!

I get asked a lot what was it like to face it. My answer is — it was brilliant. I loved the tradition. I remember seeing it as a kid, trying to copy it and vowing then that I would love to face it one day.

People who say it gives New Zealand an unfair advantage have never played international rugby. If you are intimidated by a bunch of guys in black shirts singing and dancing in front of you, 60 seconds before you are about to play one of the best teams in the world, you should not be on the pitch in the first place. When the cameras close in on the faces of the Maori players, especially with eyes popping and tongues hanging out, it can l ook i ntimidating but it should not unsettle the players.

It inspired me and I hope it inspires the Scotland team today to get the nation’s first win against the mighty All Blacks.