The Prague Post - New Zealand make changes after Barrett brothers' injuries as Scotland drop Van der Merwe

All Blacks captain Scott Barrett, a second row forward, received a cut to his leg three minutes into a 26-13 win over Ireland in Chicago last weekend, that required a dozen stitches.

Jordie, meanwhile, was ruled out of the rest of New Zealand's northern hemisphere tour after the centre suffered an ankle injury in the same match.

The two players who replaced them at Soldier Field will start on Saturday.

Josh Lord comes in for Scott Barrett at lock and Leicester Fainga'anuku for Jordie Barrett in the All Blacks' midfield.

Another change to the starting 15 sees Wallace Sititi return at blindside flanker following a breakthrough 2024 campaign.

Beauden Barrett, the other Barrett brother in the squad, is at fly-half, with flanker Ardie Savea taking over the captaincy.

New Zealand have never lost to Scotland, winning 30 of 32 Tests with two draws, in a fixture dating back to 1905.

But Scotland pushed the All Blacks close in their two most recent encounters before losing 22-17 in 2017 and 31-23 when the teams last met three years ago.

"We are honoured to be part of the 100th anniversary of rugby at Murrayfield, it will be a special occasion," said Robertson.

"We have a proud history with Scotland, and recent games between us have been close."

- Van der Merwe dropped -

Scotland, who thrashed the United States 85-0 last weekend, have dropped joint record try-scorer Duhan van der Merwe and former captain Jamie Ritchie.

Glasgow wing Kyle Steyn starts instead of Van der Merwe, with club-mate Gregor Brown lining up at blindside flanker in place of Perpignan back-row Ritchie.

"It's really rewarding Kyle's form this season, and probably since he came back from injury after the Six Nations," said Scotland coach Gregor Townsend.

"Not all of our players have been able to play a number of games leading into this tournament, but Kyle's been consistently strong in all aspects of his game so he's earned this opportunity."

This is the first time the South Africa-born Van der Merwe has been dropped for Test duty by Townsend.

"Of course he'd be disappointed but he's trained well this week and that's all you ask for players, to park the disappointment and get behind the team that's selected at the weekend," said the coach.

As for the challenge of trying to guide the Dark Blues to their first win over the All Blacks, former Scotland playmaker Townsend added: "They (New Zealand) are a form side, they're a cohesive side. They've picked, I believe, the strongest team available to them.

"We're playing the number two team in the world. We've just got to deliver close to our best performance this weekend."

Teams (15-1)

New Zealand

Will Jordan; Leroy Carter, Leicester Fainga'anuku, Quinn Tupaea, Caleb Clarke; Beauden Barrett, Cam Roigard; Peter Lakai, Ardie Savea (capt), Wallace Sititi; Fabian Holland, Josh Lord; Fletcher Newell, Codie Taylor, Ethan de Groot

Replacements: Samisoni Taukei'aho,  Tamaiti Williams, Pasilio Tosi, Sam Darry, Du'Plessis Kirifi, Cortez Ratima,  Billy Proctor, Damian McKenzie

Coach: Scott Robertson (NZL)

Scotland

Blair Kinghorn; Darcy Graham, Rory Hutchinson, Sione Tuipulotu (capt), Kyle Steyn; Finn Russell, Ben White; Jack Dempsey, Matt Fagerson, Gregor Brown; Grant Gilchrist, Scott Cummings; D'Arcy Rae, Ewan Ashman, Pierre Schoeman

Replacements: George Turner, Rory Sutherland, Elliot Millar Mills, Marshall Sykes, Rory Darge, Josh Bayliss, Jamie Dobie, Tom Jordan

Coach: Gregor Townsend (SCO)

F.Vit--TPP