On the day that Vern Cotter, the Scotland coach, gave a vote of confidence to the players who beat Argentina last Saturday by selecting exactly the same starting XV to face New Zealand at BT Murrayfield tomorrow, his All Blacks counterpart Steve Hansen reacted angrily to suggestions that his starkly contrasting selection policy showed a lack of respect toward the home team.
The world champions fielded what is generally recognised as their strongest side against England at Twickenham six days ago and beat their hosts 24-21. However, for the second leg of their three-match UK tour, Hansen has chosen just two of the players who started against England, using the meeting with Scotland as an opportunity to give game time to some of the more peripheral members of his squad.
However, he rejected the idea that his policy indicated a belief that Scotland, who have never beaten the All Blacks, were not worthy opponents. "We're taking Scotland very seriously," said the New Zealand coach. "It's a losable game if we don't prepare well and get our feet on the floor after last week really quickly.
"We have a lot of respect for Scottish rugby, but we've got our own plans and our own agenda that we've got to live by. People are totally misreading the situation if they think we are not respecting them."
After a week in which there has been much talk of Cotter's New Zealand origins giving him a privileged insight into the mindset of Scotland's opponents, Hansen was also quick to point out that the Scotland coach's experience was actually rather limited in that regard.
"He's never coached the All Blacks and he's been out of the country for eight years so I'm not sure how much insight he's really got," said Hansen.
Cotter was quick to dismiss the notion that there could be such a thing as a second-string New Zealand side. "We all know that, in situations like this, [fringe players] generally grow another leg," he said.
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