Scotland
Laidlaw: All Blacks not superhuman
ESPN Staff
November 11, 2014
Captain Greig Laidlaw was outstanding in Scotland's victory over Argentina at Murrayfield © Getty Images
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Greig Laidlaw has been confirmed as Scotland captain against New Zealand at Murrayfield this Saturday and believes his side can humble the mighty All Blacks if they stick to their game plan.

Laidlaw put in a masterclass at scrum-half as Scotland surprised many by scoring five tries on the way to an emphatic 41-31 victory over Argentina last Saturday and he believes that his side can be the first Scotland team ever to beat the All Blacks. The two sides have met 29 times over the course of 109 years but the Scots have never come out on top.

"We are going to have to be at 100 per cent to come anywhere close to winning the game," said Laidlaw, "we have to be ready for whatever is thrown at us. But we also have to be ready to have a go at them as well. We have to try and put the All Blacks under pressure when we can."

Laidlaw took heart from England running New Zealand close at Twickenham on Saturday and hopes his side can follow their example.

"England put a lot of good line-speed on New Zealand in their defence and it showed a couple of times that the All Blacks can come up with errors just like everybody else. They are not superhuman.

"Having said that, they came back with a great second half and it was a good victory for them. We in the Scotland team know how hard it is to go down to Twickenham and win. We are under no illusions. But we have had a look at the tapes and come up with some things that can help us. Hopefully that might do the trick. We will wait and see."

The scrum-half was delighted with his side's performance against Argentina and felt he put in one of his finest showings in a Scotland jersey. Scotland executed new coach's Vern Cotter's more expansive game plan expertly on the coach's first home match in charge and Laidlaw was quick to praise the New Zealander's impact but said the confident side would not be getting ahead of themselves.

"It was up there with my best performances in a Scotland jersey, I was happy with how we all played," he said. "We were a little bit disappointed with some of the tries we conceded but we scored 41 points and some nice tries and overall we were in control of the game, so we are happy.

"Vern has given us the confidence to go and play and you saw that at the weekend. It is credit to him and his coaching staff for putting that performance together. But we have got our feet firmly fixed on the ground. We were extremely happy with the win over Argentina but it will be a different test altogether against the All Blacks."

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