Ryan vows All Blacks will field strongest side against Scotland despite injury crisis

New Zealand forwards coach Jason Ryan has pledged that the All Blacks will name their strongest available side to face Scotland at Murrayfield this Saturday, acknowledging that Gregor Townsend’s settled squad demands nothing less despite a mounting injury toll.

Richie Mo’unga and Ethan Blackadder have been ruled out of the Nations Championship fixture as they continue their recoveries, adding to a list of approximately a dozen regular selections — including captain Ardie Savea — who are missing the entire November tour through injury.

“We will definitely pick our strongest side this week against Scotland,” Ryan told reporters on Monday. “We’re going to need to, and we’re going to have to be at our absolute best to win.”

Ryan identified consistency of combinations as a key objective for the All Blacks over the coming weeks, pointing to the second Bledisloe Test as a template for how rotating certain positions while maintaining continuity in key areas can benefit the squad.

Scotland arrive at Murrayfield in decent form after their July Nations Championship block, where they defeated Argentina and Fiji before losing to South Africa. Those results left them second on the North table, bolstered by bonus points in each match.

Ryan has not forgotten how close the sides were in their most recent meeting, warning that Scotland’s experience under Townsend — now six or seven years together as a group — makes them a dangerous proposition.

“They can play on top of you. They can use the ball really, really well with width, and they can get momentum pretty quick,” he said. “So I think our defensive efforts will be really important this week.”

The forwards coach is the only member of the current All Blacks staff who was involved in last year’s Test against Scotland. New head coach Dave Rennie has faced the Scots during his time with the Wallabies, lead assistant Neil Barnes knows them from his stint with Italy, and attack coach Mike Blair brings the most intimate knowledge of all, having earned 85 caps for Scotland during his playing career.

Ryan also pointed to improvements made since New Zealand’s 3-1 series defeat to the Springboks earlier in the season, citing tighter maul defence as one area where the coaching group has seen tangible progress in the two Tests since that setback.

“We made some good shifts from a couple of lessons that we had in South Africa,” he said. “We tidied up a couple of areas around our maul D, and we’re pretty satisfied” with the direction of travel.

New Zealand have never lost to Scotland at Murrayfield, but Ryan’s measured tone suggests the coaching group is treating that record as irrelevant context rather than a source of comfort.