Scots skipper on All Blacks: 'We have looked at how to beat them'

Scotland captain John Barclay reckons it’s not worth dwelling on the past matches between his side and the All Blacks in the lead up to their test match in Edinburgh this weekend.

Instead, he says the team has focused on the times the world champions have slipped over the past couple of seasons.

“What they do is very good but we have looked at how to beat them, how teams have done it,” Barclay told the Herald Scotland.

“We don’t have time to sit and watch 80 minutes, 80 minutes and 80 minutes. We tend to look at patterns, areas of focus. We’ve looked at a few clips from then but more recently we’ve looked at the Australia game but also games the All Blacks have won as well but where other teams have given them problems, like France, for example, at the weekend.”

He also claims that Scotland have been buoyed by the All Blacks’ recent loss to the Wallabies in Brisbane, a side they beat in June.

“It’s hard to compare, (but) that was a pretty good performance. It’s funny, people were suddenly saying ‘oh Australia are not very good anymore’ then they beat the All Blacks a few months later so they’re obviously not that bad. We played well and that definitely sticks out as a good game. We played with good intent that day and a lot of accuracy. They will be key things this weekend.”

Barclay is unconcerned about Scotland’s record against the All Blacks, which is winless after 112 years of test matches.

“It’s a stat. It will still be the stat come one minute before kick-off on the weekend. We’ll then have 80 minutes of rugby to play. We’ll go out, it’s a huge challenge but an exciting one to try and change that record. We’ve got to do a bit of homework on the All Blacks but if we sit back and talk about them and how fantastic they are there’s no chance.”