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EDINBURGH - The spectre of Wales' dramatic challenge to New Zealand at the 2003 rugby World Cup reared its head here today as coach Graham Henry talked up an understrength Scotland.
Tomorrow's pool C match at Murrayfield shapes as a mismatch between the All Blacks' near-full strength lineup and Scotland's second choice lineup.
Scottish coach Frank Hadden has opted to rest his best players ahead of their match against Italy in St Etienne next weekend.
Henry defied conventional belief by talking up the Scottish challenge as tougher than if Hadden had retained his No 1 side who beat Romania 42-0 on Wednesday.
"Some of them haven't played a lot in this tournament and they'll be on edge to play well and show the selectors they're good enough to play in the rounds to come," Henry said.
"They'll probably play better than the team who plays every game, they'll probably be overdone, they'll probably need a wee bit of a breather."
The game has similarities to four years ago when Wales' then-coach Steve Hansen rested many of his leading lights ahead of the pool match against New Zealand in Sydney.
The full strength All Blacks were expected to romp away but led just 28-24 at halftime against opponents who played with verve and passion, penetrating the defensive line on numerous occasions. John Mitchell's men pulled clear eventually to prevail 55-37.
Henry agreed the Scots harboured a similar threat this weekend when asked to compare the game to Wales' brave challenge.
"There's lots of examples and that's a good one," Henry said.
There are four Scottish backs and two forwards starting tomorrow who began the last time the teams met in 2005, when New Zealand ran out 29-10 winners at Murrayfield
That test was not the flying finish to the Grand Slam that some All Blacks supporters were expecting. The second half was drawn 7-7 in slippery conditions - a game best remembered as the last for captain Tana Umaga.
His successor, Richie McCaw, was one of just three starting survivors from that game. The others are centre Conrad Smith and hooker Anton Oliver.
McCaw said the All Blacks' remarkable record against Scotland - they have never lost and have drawn just twice in 25 tests - had been far from their mind this week.
"As soon as a team looks at what's happened in the past, that's when you come unstuck," he said.
"A few of us have played here before and we know it's not an easy place to play."
The focus had been on improving on the first pool outings against Italy and Portugal, where some quality play had been spoiled by sporadic concentration lapses.
"Obviously the Scottish will look to get stuck in but we want to come off, having performed better than we did the previous week.
"The intensity's gone up a wee bit and hopefully that's what we'll see on the track."
- NZPA
