All Blacks 'fully loaded' for Murrayfield Nations Championship clash, says Mike Blair

New Zealand assistant Mike Blair said the All Blacks will come to Murrayfield "fully loaded" as they aim to preserve their unbeaten record against Scotland on Saturday in the Nations Championship. Scotland have never beaten New Zealand in 33 attempts across 121 years.

Blair warned there is respect for the threat Scotland will pose after recent meetings between the sides were decided by single-digit margins. "When I played, New Zealand played their second-string team. They gave guys opportunity against us," he said. "Times have changed from that. We're fully loaded. We're ready to go."

"It's really important," said Blair, who played 85 times for Scotland and was head coach of Edinburgh from 2021 to 2023. "We've got a couple of long-standing records. The Eden Park record [the All Blacks have not lost a Test there since 1994], every time we play there, there's an extra edge to it because you don't want to be the team that loses that record. It's definitely a huge motivation. "We're really proud of that record [against Scotland]. We know over the last four matches it's been close, so it's going to be a tough contest for sure."

Having worked under Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend with both Glasgow Warriors and Scotland, Blair said he retains a strong relationship with his former international team-mate. "We've been in touch this week," Blair said. "When I was over after the fourth Test [against South Africa], I was over for a couple of weeks and caught up with them and make a point to do that."

On tactical preparation, Blair said the teams are cautious about revealing plans but must trust their own game. "We're just a little bit more cagey around certain things, how we believe the game's developing now and what we can do, because obviously we're up against each other now and I think we play each other before the World Cup as well. "You need to be aware of certain plays the opposition might do over shape, but you've really got to trust what you're trying to do. I certainly feel like that with attack, you'll make little tweaks in your detail depending on what the defence offer, but if we get our game right then we can impose ourselves. "So there's a bit of inside knowledge but I don't think it carries a huge amount of weight."

Blair said the squad and staff were still coming to terms with the sudden death of All Blacks head of security Logan Cadwallader, who passed away on Sunday following the squad's arrival in Edinburgh, with head coach Rennie saying "we are all devastated". "It's been a tough couple of days," Blair said. "Logan was a big part of the All Blacks for 10 years and very close with players and management and obviously a huge, huge shock and it's taken time to deal with."

Blair added: "I think we play each other before the World Cup as well." Scotland lose Ritchie and Millar Mills through injury.