Victor Matfield believes the All Blacks’ Nations Championship clash against Scotland at Murrayfield could be tougher than their showdown with England at Twickenham.
Speaking on the Rugby Rivals podcast, the former Springbok lock pointed to the strong performances of Scotland’s two URC clubs as a reason why New Zealand should be wary of coach Gregor Townsend’s side.
“The Scottish teams are actually at the top of the table. Glasgow are unbeaten and Edinburgh were unbeaten [before the Benetton loss],” Matfield said.
“The Scottish team might actually be a bigger challenge than England. England aren’t doing great in the Champions Cup, their players are going at each other.
“South Africa is in a place where you can just see the Springboks, even when they play each other, when they run off it’s almost like an arm around them, there’s a lot of respect, whereas the English guys are going for each other. It just feels like there is something going on in that camp.
“The Scottish teams are really playing great and they’re playing nice rugby; they use the ball quite a bit.”
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Former New Zealand wing John Kirwan agreed that Scotland would pose a serious threat, but said the All Blacks would be particularly motivated to avenge last year’s 33-19 defeat to England at Twickenham.
“I was there [Murrayfield] last year when we were up 17-0 after 20 minutes and [Scotland] came back and they nearly beat us [New Zealand won 25-17].
“Scotland really get up for us so that’s going to be hard, but the English game at Twickenham, we owe them one.
“I think Gregor has done a great job, I don’t think it’s going to be easy by any means. I think we’ll play our top side against Scotland and then we’ll give a few guys a go against Wales. And then England will be our top side again.”
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Meanwhile, Scotland’s preparations have been disrupted by injuries to prop Elliot Millar Mills (knee) and flank Jamie Ritchie (ankle), who have both been ruled out of their Nations Championship campaign after suffering setbacks on club duty.
Townsend has called up uncapped 20-year-old Edinburgh prop Ollie Blyth-Lafferty, along with clubmates D’Arcy Rae and Freddy Douglas, while Sale Sharks scrumhalf Gus Warr will also train with the squad.
Scotland also host the Wallabies and Japan in November.
Photo: Stu Forster/Getty Images
The post Matfield warns All Blacks of Scottish threat appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Victor Matfield believes the All Blacks’ Nations Championship clash against Scotland at Murrayfield could be tougher than their showdown with England at Twickenham.
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