Scotland will return to Nations Championship action this weekend as the mighty All Blacks visit Murrayfield in the first of four November Test matches for the men’s national team.
The current group of players once again have a shot at history as they bid to becomes the first ever Scotland side to beat New Zealand. As ever, it means there are some big decisions for head coach Gregor Townsend to make when he names his 23-man squad for the contest.
Here is The Scotsman’s predicted starting XV and replacements for the fixture and where we think some of the potentially match defining selections could be made:
21. Ollie Leatherbarrow
Could the Newcastle back row be the future for Scotland in the number 8 jersey? There's no better game for him to show his credentials than against the All Blacks in front of a packed Murrayfield | SNS Group
22. George Horne
There's an argument that you sacrifice the Glasgow man in favour of someone like Huw Jones or Darcy Graham with Jamie Dobie able to cover nine but any injury to Ben White and you certainly want the almost 50 cap veteran available. Not to mention the energy and dynamism he can bring. | SNS Group / SRU
23. Tom Jordan
Arguably the toughest call in the whole 23-man squad as it's so harsh to leave out Kyle Rowe but you need someone who can cover 10 if Finn Russell goes down and the only other option without Jordan in the squad would be Blair Kinghorn. Between him and Jordan they can cover any position from 10 to 15 which is why the Bristol Bears man edges out Rowe | SNS Group / SRU