New Zealand coach Steve Hansen is looking forward to seeing how his much-changed side fare against Scotland at Murrayfield on Sunday after “letting themselves down” last time out.
The world champions begin their European tour this weekend undefeated in 17 matches; their hopes of breaking rugby union’s 18-game record for consecutive Test victories were scuppered by an 18-18 draw with Australia last month.
Scotland have never beaten New Zealand, losing 26 out of 28 Tests with two draws – the most recent back in 1983.
But Hansen, who made 10 changes to the All Blacks XV that kicked-off against the Wallabies, said he expected Scotland to be “very combative”.
New Zealand’s World Cup-winning captain Richie McCaw and fly-half Dan Carter have both been named in the side, while Tamati Ellison and Ben Smith make up a new combination in midfield.
Despite all the changes the starting side still boasts 556 caps with an additional 267 on the bench.
Hansen had given notice that he would make wholesale changes, but stressed star flanker McCaw was always going to figure in Edinburgh at the start of a tour also featuring internationals against Italy, Wales and England.
“You always want your skipper on the paddock in the first Test,” said Hansen.
“We’ve had a good build-up this week and the key for us has been to get our preparation spot on so we can put in a performance on Sunday we are proud of.”
Hansen explained the introduction of new faces had helped his side avoid any drop in motivation after they won the World Cup on home soil last year.
“Every paper we picked up told us we’d have a hangover and that made us more determined not to,” said Hansen, previously an assistant to World Cup-winning supremo Graham Henry.
“There have been a couple of games where we let ourselves down, one not so long ago,” the former Wales coach said in a reference to the Australia draw.
“But, when they’re on the job, they’ve got a lot of talent and because they’ve got a lot of talent they’re capable of winning games,” said Hansen of a New Zealand side who on their last visit to Murrayfield, in 2010, thrashed Scotland 49-3.
Scotland (15-1):
Stuart Hogg; Sean Lamont, Nick de Luca, Matt Scott, Tim Visser; Greig Laidlaw, Mike Blair; Kelly Brown (capt), Ross Rennie, Alasdair Strokosch; Jim Hamilton, Richie Gray; Geoff Cross, Ross Ford, Ryan Grant
Replacements: Scott Lawson, Allan Jacobsen, Kyle Traynor, Alastair Kellock, David Denton, Henry Pyrgos, Ruaridh Jackson, Max Evans
New Zealand (15-1):
Israel Dagg; Cory Jane, Ben Smith, Tamati Ellison, Julian Savea; Daniel Carter, Piri Weepu; Victor Vito, Richie McCaw (capt), Adam Thomson; Samuel Whitelock, Luke Romano; Owen Franks, Andrew Hore, Wyatt Crockett.
Replacements: Dane Coles, Tony Woodcock, Ben Franks, Ali Williams, Sam Cane, Tawera Kerr-Barlow, Beauden Barrett, Ma’a Nonu
Referee: Jerome Garces (FRA)