Rugby: Scotland captain warns teammates not to be starstruck by All Blacks

Scotland skipper John Barclay will be doing his utmost to ignore the hype surrounding New Zealand this week.

The All Blacks travel to Edinburgh to face Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday, three years since the two sides last met.

Steve Hansen's two-time reigning World Cup winners will be a daunting test for Gregor Townsend's side after conceding five tries in a thrilling 44-38 win over Samoa on Saturday.

However, captain Barclay, who lasted an hour of the win, is keen for his teammates not to get caught up in the hype surrounding their visitors and insisted the game will take on no extra significance.

"There's probably something wrong if you need to take inspiration from the opposition," Barclay said.

"If we sit back and are in awe and are inspired, then there's something quite drastically wrong with our mindset.

"We need to focus on ourselves and try to impose ourselves."

Barclay added: "There are a lot of questions about the All Blacks, but for me, it's about the honour of playing and captaining my country, and what that means to me.

"Yes we have to do a bit of homework, but if we sit back and talk about them and how fantastic they are, we have no chance."

History will certainly be against Scotland as they attempt to break their long-standing duck against the southern hemisphere side.

The Dark Blues are yet to register a win against the All Blacks in over 100 years of fixtures, drawing just twice and losing the other 28.

But Barclay claimed history will have no relevance when the two sides take to the pitch.

"We've certainly not mentioned it," the Scarlets back-row said.

"It doesn't bother me. It's a stat and it will still be a stat one minute before kick-off at the weekend.

"They don't lose many games but they have lost a few in the past 12 months.

"For us, we have to play well, we can't just sit back and watch them, we have to go and play with an intent, be aggressive and try to impose ourselves on them."

- AAP