With the weather forecasters anticipating the coldest weekend in Edinburgh in a decade, Scotland must hope the All Blacks also freeze at Murrayfield on Saturday.
On the evidence of the last month however, it looks a remote prospect.
A 3-0 series win over the British and Irish Lions in June and July and a Tri-Nations title had established Graham Henry’s squad as the pre-eminent force in world rugby long before they touched down in Cardiff at the end of last month.
Demolition jobs on Wales (41-3) and Ireland (45-7) and last weekend’s gutsy win over England (23-19) at Twickenham have done nothing to dispel the belief that Henry is in charge of a uniquely talented generation of All Blacks.
For those players, Saturday’s run-out at Murrayfield offers the opportunity to translate all the plaudits they have received into an indelible entry in the history books.
By beating the Scots, they will become only the second New Zealand squad to complete a Grand Slam of victories over the four unions of the British Isles, emulating the achievement of their legendary 1978 predecessors.
Complacency, the scourge of all truly talented sides, is unlikely to be an issue.
Scotland, in contrast, are struggling to emerge from the worst slump in the country’s rugby history and look, frankly, ill-equipped to cope with the waves of exhilarating attacking rugby that has become the trademark of New Zealand.
In the 100 years since Scotland hosted the first All Black tourists, the two countries have met 24 times and the best the Scots have managed is two ties, 0-0 in 1964 and 25-25 1983.
Conditions permitting on Saturday, there must be a realistic chance that New Zealand’s biggest victory, a 69-20 win at Dunedin in 2000, could be surpassed.
The stakes involved in the encounter have done Frank Hadden’s developing squad no favours with Henry having retained skipper Tana Umaga in midfield as an insurance policy against anything going wrong.
”I felt it was vital for Umaga to start,” Henry said. ”We haven’t had the Grand Slam since 1978 and we need to finish the job. As a team, they won’t get another chance because nowadays it is only once every 12 years that the All Blacks plays every one of the home nations.
”This group have beaten the Lions three-zilch, they have won the Tri-Nations and hold the Bledisloe Cup. To add the Grand Slam would probably be something that can never be repeated.”
Henry has also handed 19-year-old Isaia Toeava a debut at fullback and recalled star flanker Richie McCaw, who missed the England match through injury, and experienced hooker Anton Oliver to his pack.
McCaw’s opposite number, Ally Hogg, admitted the Scots would set out to frustrate their more gifted opponents. ”We need to get in their faces, put their skills under pressure and hopefully they’ll make mistakes,” he said.
Henry paid Hogg, Jason White and Simon Taylor the compliment of warning that the Scots loose forwards would require attention. It is however in Scott Murray’s prowess at the lineout that he sees the greatest threat to his Grand Slam project.
”In fact I regard their lineout as highly as any in the world at the moment and that is the foundation that Scotland will attempt to build on,” Henry predicted.
The Scots have been forced to draft Edinburgh fullback Hugo Southwell into their line-up and switch Chris Paterson to the wing, where he will fill in for Rory Lamont, who suffered a head injury in the 18-11 win over Samoa on Sunday.
Hadden has also moved to stiffen his pack with props Gavin Kerr and Bruce Douglas returning at the expense of Allan Jacobsen and Craig Smith.
Southwell, whose handling has been suspect under pressure on previous starts for Scotland, believes he can cope with the daunting challenge.
”It’s the biggest game I’ve ever played in, no doubt about it, but it’s not something that really fazes me,” he said.
”They are the best team in the world at the moment by a distance, even though they only just beat England last week, and it’s a massive challenge for us. But we’re only going to measure ourselves by playing the best and that’s what we’ll do this weekend.” – AFP
