SHOW NO MERCY

All Blacks tipped to run riot at Murrayfield

SCOTLAND have been warned they face an All Blacks onslaught at Murrayfield this evening — and that they could be on the end of a huge ‘60-point humbling’.

New Zealand legend Zinzan Brooke made the frightening prediction yesterday, with the former back-row forward unimpressed by Gregor Townsend’s men in their narrow victory over Samoa last weekend.

Now, after All Blacks head coach Steve Hansen named a strong starting XV for the visit to Edinburgh including the likes of powerhouse forwards Kieran Read and Sam Whitelock, Brooke believes the omens look bleak for the Scots.

‘I really like the look of this All Black pack,’ said the 52-year-old. ‘It shows absolutely no mercy and, if conditions are firm at Murrayfield, they could run Scotland completely ragged and whack them by 50 to 60 points.’

In a truly withering assessment on the New Zealand team’s official website, Brooke continued: ‘I watched their win against Samoa last week and it looked more like a Barbarians game than a Test match. It was their first hit-out of

the autumn Test series, but that’s no excuse.’ The former All Blacks star claimed that because most of the Scotland team were drawn from Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh, they should have known each other’s games well enough to play better than they did against the South Sea Islanders. Brooke did admit the All Blacks had to improve their work-rate at the back of the scrum and keep it simple at the set-piece, but added: ‘If we do that, then we’re well on the way to that 60-point humbling I’m picking. Do us proud, boys, and show no mercy!’ Asked about Brooke’s comments, and the 60-point prediction, Scotland assistant head coach Mike Blair did his best to shrug them off, saying: ‘That’s a big scoreline. We’re aware that things didn’t go right in some areas last week against Samoa but we also did a lot of good stuff. ‘I’m looking forward to the game and the guys are keen to get going. They will be looking forward to righting a few wrongs from last week, but also building on the good stuff.’ On the accusation that Scotland played more like the Baa-Baas because of the way they threw the ball around in the 44-38 victory over the Samoans, Blair said: ‘That’s probably reflecting the fact that we made more errors than we wanted to. ‘Samoa came here with a gameplan of throwing the ball around. It was never going to be a kick-to-the-corners kind of game and we gave them chances off turnover ball. ‘But it was a dry ball and we’ve got a really exciting team, so there are elements of the game that sat well with us. ‘Obviously, we’ve got to tidy up that turnover side and not give New Zealand chances because they’ll be more dangerous than Samoa.’ Asked whether Brooke’s comments would fire up the players, Blair said: ‘That’s not extra motivation.’ Scotland centre Alex Dunbar admitted that any team could lose 60 to 70 points to New Zealand on their day, but said it was vital that his team start well and stay in the game. ‘We’ve talked about how we have to start — that will be key,’ he said. ‘We’ve got to go out and put them under pressure. ‘If any team sits off and lets them play, then anyone can be beaten by 60-70 points. We’ll see how the game goes once we are past the early stages. ‘We did some very good stuff last week against Samoa and there were quite a few positives. We scored some great tries, but there are also areas we have addressed and will look to improve. It’s a big step up, a big challenge to play the world’s best.’ Scotland and Glasgow Warriors second row Tim Swinson, meanwhile, is set to miss the Six Nations after being ruled out for a minimum of four months with a hand injury. His Scotland and Glasgow team-mate Rob Harley is also expected to be out for four weeks after injuring his knee during an international training session.