Source: BBC

Kyle Steyn starts in place of Duhan van der Merwe as Scotland aim for a first win against New Zealand at Murrayfield on Saturday.

Van der Merwe won his 50th cap in last weekend’s 85-0 demolition of the United States and the powerful British and Irish Lions winger scored twice to take his international tries tally to 34.

Steyn has 13 tries from 25 appearances and head coach Gregor Townsend said: “It’s really rewarding Kyle’s form this season, and probably since he came back from injury after the Six Nations.

“Not all of our players have been able to play a number of games leading into this tournament, but Kyle’s been consistently strong in all aspects of his game so he’s earned this opportunity.”

Scotland are without Zander Fagerson, who had been tipped to feature despite not playing since April with a series of injuries.

“This time last week, I thought Zander would be available because he trained on the Tuesday and Wednesday,” said Townsend. “But his knee just wasn’t 100 per cent right.

“We still believe he’ll play some part in this series, but not this weekend.”

D’Arcy Rae continues at tight-head in the continued absence of the experienced prop.

The record victory against the USA came outside the international window, with the squad made up entirely from Glasgow and Edinburgh players.

Established stars Finn Russell and Blair Kinghorn return to face the All Blacks, along with Ben White and Rory Hutchinson.

Captain Sione Tuipulotu is among the home-based players restored, with only Rae, Darcy Graham, Scott Cummings and Jack Dempsey retaining their places.

Gregor Brown is preferred to former skipper Jamie Ritchie in the number six shirt.

In the 32 meetings between the sides, the All Blacks have won 30 and drawn twice.

Ardie Savea captains New Zealand, who make three starting changes from their 26-13 win over Ireland in Chicago.

Lock Josh Lord and outside centre Leicester Fainga’anuku take over from injured duo Scott Barrett and Jordie Barrett, with flanker Wallace Sititi coming in for Simon Parker.

“They’re a form side, they’re a cohesive side,” said Townsend of the opposition.

“We’re playing the number two team in the world. We’ve just got to deliver close to our best performance.”

Fagerson absence grievous blow – analysis
Dropping Van der Merwe – Scotland’s joint-record try-scorer – for Kyle Steyn is a huge call from Townsend, but an understandable one.

Nobody offers what Van der Merwe does in attack, but defensively and under the high-ball he can be suspect.

Steyn is the more rounded player, and while he does not produce the fireworks of Van der Merwe, he will bring aerial ability and defensive nous, and his own try return at Test level is very good.

The glaring area of concern is at tighthead. The failure of Zander Fagerson to recover from injury is a grievous blow. D’Arcy Rae is simply not at Fagerson’s level and has little experience in the Test arena, certainly in games of this magnitude.

The Edinburgh prop will need to find a level he has never found before, much like when Darryl Marfo emerged from nowhere amidst a front-row injury crisis to face the All Blacks in 2017 and let nobody down.

Rae’s one and only job will be to keep up his side of the scrum. Easier said than done against the power of Ethan de Groot.

Line-ups at Murrayfield
Scotland: Kinghorn; Graham, Hutchinson, Tuipulotu (capt) Steyn; Russell, White; Schoeman, Ashman, Rae, Gilchrist, Cummings, Brown, M Fagerson, Dempsey.

Replacements: Turner, Sutherland, Millar-Mills, Sykes, Darge, Bayliss, Dobie, Jordan.

New Zealand: Jordan; Carter, Fainga’anuku, Tupaea, Clarke; B Barrett, Roigard; Groot, Taylor, Newell, Lord, Holland, Sititi, Savea (capt), Lakai.

Replacements: Taukei’aho,  Williams, Tosi,  Darry, Kirifi, Ratima, Proctor, McKenzie.

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