Keven Mealamu, the New Zealand hooker, said Scotland's performance against Argentina on Saturday has made them "sit up in their chairs a bit" ahead of the world champions' match at Murrayfield on Saturday.

The New Zealand squad last night watched a rerun of Scotland's 41-31 win over Argentina in their Edinburgh hotel and the 122-capped Mealamu admits he is excited by the prospect of facing the new-look home side.

"Scotland have definitely improved over the last year and we will prepare well for the match, as we always do," said the 35-year-old. "I wasn't surprised by the [Scotland-Argentina] result, but it sort of made us all sit up in our chairs a bit and certainly made sure that we will have a really good look at them this week.

"Against any top-tier nations anything is possible and we have definitely taken notice of the score from the weekend. We will not be leaving any stone unturned."

If Mealamu plays at the weekend he will overtake the legendary Sir Colin Meads' record for the number of first class (club and country) games played by a New Zealander.

The experienced hooker has not worked with compatriot Vern Cotter, Scotland's head coach, but believes he is having a positive impact.

"Certainly from the weekend's performance he seems to have got Scotland doing good things. There is a willingness from the coach to get his players to open up the game a bit more and that is something that perhaps we are not used to seeing from them. Time will tell how he will do, but from what we are seeing so far it looks really positive. I think Scotland's ability to use the ball has improved and it just looks like they are playing a bit more of an expansive game.

"I think it is something we are seeing amongst a lot of the international teams now, a willingness to play rugby when the chances arise while most teams are contesting a lot of their attacking kicks now, not just looking to go long and into touch."

New Zealand have never lost an international to Scotland, winning 27 and drawing two while, since 2001, they have won six times at Murrayfield. The last time they visited in 2012 they won 51-22, but second-row Jeremy Thrush expects the game to be tighter this coming weekend.

"I wasn't here two years ago, but I expect Saturday to be a tough match and tight as every Test match is," said Thrush.

"I think it will be a good match and we are looking forward to getting a good week of training under our belts in preparation."