On Saturday week at Murrayfield, Scotland will face the All Blacks for the 34th time, the overall picture skewed ever-so-slightly in New Zealand’s favour. They’ve won 31 and the Scots have won zero.
Draws in 1964 and 1983 – halcyon days, kind of – is as good as it has got for the underdogs since these nations first met 111 years ago.
Speaking on the BBC’s Scotland Rugby Podcast on the day he announced his squad for the Nations Championship, Gregor Townsend goes through his own story with the Kiwis, about the dog days he experienced as a player – two of them ending 62-31 and 69-20 – and how the inferiority complex his generation might have felt is not the same anymore.
“It’s almost like two different lifetimes,” he says. “As a player, I don’t think we ever felt we could win the game.
“There were moments within games over in Auckland in 1996 when we had opportunities, but they were always going to pull away from us. I’ve not felt that as a coach.”
As coach, he has gone up against the All Blacks three times, all in Edinburgh. A 25-17 defeat in 2025, a 31-23 loss in 2023 and a 22-17 reverse in 2017.
“I felt every time we’ve played against them, we’ve had opportunities to win and the belief has been there,” he said.
“We might have lacked the composure. Certainly last time, a year ago (Scotland fell 17-0 behind but then came roaring back to level at 17-17). We were just playing so much accurate, physical rugby. But we didn’t take the chances.
“So there is a difference. I feel it in the players. But I didn’t feel that in the 90s when we went up against them.”
The coming months are seismic for Scotland with the culmination of the Nations Championship, then Townsend’s final Six Nations, a World Cup warm-up against New Zealand in Dunedin, followed by the coach’s last act, the World Cup itself.
Scotland have not played an away Test against the All Blacks since 2000, a two-Test deal, one in Auckland and the other at Carisbrook in Dunedin. New Zealand won the first 62-31 and the second 48-14. Townsend played in both.
Regular summer games against higher calibre southern hemisphere opposition has been crucial in Ireland’s improvement in recent years, but Scotland have been denied that exposure. The global calendar has now changed and the Scots will be one of the main beneficiaries.
In Townsend’s time as coach, he has had one game against the Wallabies in Australia, one against the Springboks in South Africa and none against the All Blacks in New Zealand. In the same period of time, Wales have played seven away Tests against the big three from the south, England have played nine and Ireland have had 10. Ireland have had four Tests in New Zealand in just nine years compared to Scotland’s zero in 26 years.
“That’s great for Scottish Rugby, great for our players to get that opportunity to play New Zealand in New Zealand,” he said. “It’s a really good preparation for us for the World Cup as a stand-alone game. It’s one we’ve missed for so many years.”
