Scotland come full circle for another crack at All Blacks

Published1 hour ago

As Scotland prepare for their latest attempt at busting one of sport's longest standing hoodoos against the All Blacks on Saturday, it is worth reflecting on the journey this team has been on since their last tilt 12 months ago.

That match, in which Scotland fell 17-0 down, roared back to 17-17 all, only to succumb to the sorcery of Damien McKenzie late in the game, was another experience to file in Scottish rugby's bulging folder marked 'Ones That Got Away'.

It was a bitter disappointment, but worse was to follow when a 21-0 lead against Argentina spiralled into a nightmarish defeat that led to serious questions around the future of head coach Gregor Townsend.

The heat was turned up further still by a dispiriting loss to Italy in Rome to kick off this year's Six Nations. Since then, Scotland have flipped the narrative.

They smashed England's 12-game winning run to smithereens, delivered one of the greatest displays in the history of the national side by putting 50 points on Grand Slam-chasing France, stuck seven tries on Argentina in their own backyard in the summer then ran world champions South Africa close in an epic Test match in Pretoria.

As Jack Dempsey said recently on the BBC Scotland Rugby Podcast: "We can be the best team in the world for 20 minutes and we can be the worst team in the world for 20 minutes." The hope is the experiences of the past year will help them deliver more of the former and less of the latter.

Captain Sione Tuipulotu admitted: "We've been through a lot in the last 12 months, as a coaching staff, as a playing group and as a team.

"We've probably had to walk a path where we've had to support each other, had to pick each other up after defeats but also had some landmark victories in there as well.

"I do feel like we've progressed a lot in the last 12 months. It's been those experiences that have allowed us to progress.

"For instance, in Pretoria against the world champions. Having those type of experiences that I think as a team we haven't really been exposed to a lot previously, certainly not in the time I've been playing for Scotland."

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Comparing the French side Scotland put away so impressively in March to the New Zealand team that will run out at Murrayfield, it is hard to argue this match represents a significant step up in class.

Regular exposure to France in the Six Nations - and beating them six times in the Townsend era - means they do not carry, despite their undeniable class, the sort of aura the All Blacks still retain when they rock up in Edinburgh.

That sense of missed opportunity last year came from the number of chances Scotland left behind and also the feeling that the 2025 iteration in the final months of Scott Robertson's reign was not vintage All Blacks.

Dave Rennie, the former Glasgow Warriors head coach, with ex-Scotland scrum-half Mike Blair by his side, seems to have reset the All Blacks back to their factory settings - pace, power, ambition and freedom to play. "A proper All Blacks team," as Townsend described them this week.

"They look like a group that's together," Tuipulotu said.

"You could see that in the Greatest Rivalry series [against South Africa]. I thought the way Ardie [Savea] was leading the boys before he got hurt was pretty inspirational.

"I thought that really brought them together since he's gone down [injured]. Other boys have had to step up, but I thought his mark on the All Blacks as a leader was evident.

"They've carried that on. Obviously they've had two really good victories against Australia and they're probably playing a brand that the players really enjoy.

"It's a brand of rugby that you would traditionally associate with New Zealand teams, one which the fans really enjoy.

"We do play a similar sort of style."

And Tuipulotu is clear in his assessment of how Saturday's Test will go.

"A big part of this match will come down to who can be tougher for longer," he added.

Podcast: Can Scotland end 121 years of history against All Blacks?

5/11/26

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