Scotland vs New Zealand LIVE rugby: Result and reaction as hosts denied historic win over All Blacks

Stuart Hogg, speaking to Amazon, on Gregor Townsend’s decision to remove him from the captaincy, following Jamie Ritchie into battle and taking on the All Blacks.

“I found it quite challenging,” he said of losing the captaincy. “I want to concentrate on my preparation, getting my head right and body right. It’s a challenge not being captain but it’s something I accept. I did things as captain that I’m not proud of. Everyone knows what happened after the Italy game. I’m proud of what we did when I was captain, winning in England, winning in Wales, winning in France, but I know Gregor has my best interests at heart. Jamie Ritchie as captain is an unbelievable talent. I can see him captaining Scotland for a long, long time. I want to follow him into battle. We want to look back on this game and know we gave everything. Let’s go out and have some fun.”

New Zealand head coach Ian Foster was under pressure earlier this season but talk of his sacking has calmed ahead of next year’s Rugby World Cup thanks to five consecutive wins. Here he is talking to Amazon:

“It’s the last two weeks of the year for us and we have a squad who are pushing for places. I believe it’s the right group for today. It’s a new experience for us. We spent the week in Edinburgh and the guys have been soaking it up. Scotland are a team who are growing and it will be a big ocassion for them.”

Chris Harris is relishing his first crack at New Zealand and has vowed that Scotland will “throw the kitchen sink at it” as they bid to make history on Sunday.

The 31-year-old Gloucester centre missed out on the last meeting with the All Blacks, which took place at Murrayfield the week after he made his debut for the national team against Samoa in November 2017.

Asked if facing the All Blacks was the stuff of childhood dreams, Harris said: “Rugby was never a big thing for me growing up. I enjoyed watching it but it was never something I thought I’d be even close to doing professionally, let alone representing Scotland.

“But since getting involved with Scotland, this is the one fixture I’ve wanted to play in. It obviously doesn’t happen very often and I missed out on it when we were due to play them on our summer tour and it got cancelled due to Covid. I’m really excited to play against the All Blacks.

“It’s an opportunity to test our defence against one of the best attacks and to test our attack against a decent defence. It’s an exciting opportunity to test ourselves against New Zealand.

“It would be insane if we could win. It would be a historic win. That is the opportunity for us. We’re looking forward to getting out there.”

Scotland coach Gregor Townsend, speaking to Amazon Prime Video: “It’s a huge ocassion. We’ve not played New Zealand since 2017 and that was a very special night, in terms of the energy the crowd brought and getting to show our appreciation for Doddie Weir, which we get to do again today. But also, it was a cracking match and we will have to deliver a better performance today to win.”

On the recall of Finn Russell and how he has looked this week: “Finn has been very good. He got in on Tuesday and he has led the attack really well this week. You can tell on his face that today is a big opportunity for him. We might not get to play New Zealand again so we are going to do everything we can to win.”

On what to expect from New Zealand following their thrashing of Wales in Cardiff: “Something similar - that worked for them last week. Coming to the northern hemisphere, New Zealand have tended to play a tighter game. But we will have to adapt to whatever they throw at us. It’s great weather so it could be attacking rugby, it could be kick chase, it could be up front. We just have to manage those moments.”

Grant Gilchrist has called on Scotland to seize their chance to make history against New Zealand.

The Scots have never beaten the All Blacks, although they came mighty close in their last meeting in 2017 when a strong fightback brought Gregor Townsend’s team within a score of victory before they succumbed to a 22-17 defeat.

Edinburgh lock Gilchrist played in that match and believes the current team are equipped to go a step further and record a victory if they can put all the positive aspects of their game together on Sunday.

“It was one of the highlights of my career, that game,” he said. “It was so special. We came so close.

“We know the amount of effort and the level of performance it will take but what an opportunity it is to play them at home and try to make history. It’s something the team will relish this week.

“If we put everything into our training week, make a few fixes and put on our best performance on Sunday, we believe we can win.”

Gregor Townsend praised Finn Russell’s professionalism as he handed the recalled stand-off an instant return to Scotland’s starting XV for Sunday’s showdown with New Zealand.

The high-profile 30-year-old was controversially left out of the initial squad for the autumn internationals, with the head coach citing concerns about his “form and consistency” for Racing 92 as he instead opted to place his faith in Blair Kinghorn and Adam Hastings to be his main options at number 10.

However, Russell – who has had a strained relationship with Townsend at times in recent years – was called up at the start of this week after Hastings withdrew following an injury sustained in last weekend’s victory over Fiji.

“Finn’s been excellent,” said Townsend, when asked how the fly-half had slotted back into the international set-up for the first time since March.

“He came into the squad on Tuesday, he’s got other things going on in his life which are very important, his partner Emma is close to giving birth, but since he’s come in he’s been very professional. He’s trained well, he’s led the attack very well.”

Captain Jamie Ritchie has told his Scotland team-mates to draw inspiration from the presence of Doddie Weir as they bid to conquer New Zealand for the first time in their history on Sunday.

Accompanied by his family, the 52-year-old former Scotland international is expected to be at Murrayfield for the showdown with the All Blacks, five years on from his appearance at the same fixture just months after he revealed his motor neurone disease diagnosis.

The Scots will wear their purple away kit with the numbers on the back in the colour of Weir’s famous blue and yellow tartan to mark the five-year anniversary of his My Name’5 Doddie Foundation, which has now committed almost £8 million to research projects across the UK.

“It will be a proud day to lead the boys out for such a big game, especially with Doddie being there,” said Ritchie. “Five years ago, he presented the ball the last time we played New Zealand.

“It was a hugely emotional moment. I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house and it will be special to have him there tomorrow.”

The All Blacks will debut wing Mark Telea, who was brought in as injury cover for Leicester Fainga'anuku, who returned home for family reasons before the tour-opening test in Japan.

Telea starred for the Blues in their run to the Super Rugby Pacific final, and joined the All Blacks squad as cover during the home series against Ireland.

The All Blacks have made eight changes and a positional switch after beating Wales 55-23 last weekend in Cardiff. They also brought in hooker Samisoni Taukei'aho and prop Nepo Laulala, and rotated in Akira Ioane on the blindside flank and moved Shannon Frizell to the reserves.

Finlay Christie and Beauden Barrett were the halves instead of Aaron Smith and Richie Mo'unga, and centers David Havili and Anton Lienert-Brown were starting after being reserves for the last two tests.

New Zealand team to face Scotland: Jordie Barrett, Mark Telea, Anton Lienert-Brown, David Havili, Caleb Clarke, Beauden Barrett, Finlay Christie; Ardie Savea, Dalton Papali’i, Akira Ioane, Scott Barrett, Sam Whitelock (captain), Nepo Laulala, Samisoni Taukei’aho, Ethan de Groot

Reserves: Codie Taylor, George Bower, Fletcher Newell, Tupou Vaa’i, Shannon Frizell, TJ Perenara, Stephen Perofeta, Rieko Ioane

Finn Russell goes straight into the Scotland XV at fly-half after being recalled to Scotland’s squad follwing injury.

Russell has got the nod to start ahead of Blair Kinghorn at number 10. Kinghorn is once again named on the bench after playing second fiddle to Adam Hastings against Fiji last weekend.

In the other two changes to the team, Fraser Brown replaces the injured George Turner at hooker, while Sione Tuipulotu returns at number 12 in place of Cam Redpath, who will turn out for Bath this weekend.

Scotland team to face New Zealand: Stuart Hogg, Darcy Graham, Chris Harris, Sione Tuipulotu, Duhan van der Merwe, Finn Russell, Ali Price; Matt Fagerson, Hamish Watson, Jamie Ritchie, Grant Gilchrist, Richie Gray, Zander Fagerson, Fraser Brown, Pierre Schoeman

Replacements: Ewan Ashman, Rory Sutherland, WP Nel, Jonny Gray, Jack Dempsey, Ben White, Blair Kinghorn, Mark Bennett

Latest odds

Scotland: 4/1

Draw: 33/1

New Zealand: 1/4