| Venue: Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh Date: Sunday, 13 November Kick-off: 14:15 GMT |
| Coverage: Live text commentary on BBC Sport website & app |
The presence of Doddie Weir will inspire the Scotland team as they seek a first win over New Zealand on Sunday, says captain Jamie Ritchie.
Weir is due to be at Murrayfield for the match to mark five years since the launch of his charity which raises awareness of motor neurone disease.
The former Lion was diagnosed with the condition in 2016 and has since raised millions for research into MND.
“Doddie’s so special to us all,” Ritchie said.
“The strength and the courage that he’s shown over the last five or six years since his diagnosis, just to keep fighting, is an inspiration to anyone, not just us as a playing group.
“I know he is special to the group and I’d like to think that the group is special to him.
“I said to the boys out there during the team run, ‘If you need any other motivation than to do it for him, then I don’t know what to say’. It’ll be hugely inspirational for us.”
In 31 meetings and 117 years of trying, Scotland have never beaten the All Blacks. Ritchie says his team are resolved to give it everything to end that barren run at Murrayfield on Sunday.
“Our intention is to go out and fire every bullet we’ve got, leave nothing to chance, leave nothing up to what if,” said the Edinburgh back row. “We’re just going to be brave and take the game to them.
“It’d be the first time in our history that we’d beaten them in 15s, so we know it’s a challenge but we’re looking to get that monkey off the back.
“You saw them last week (against Wales), they’re still a very good side. But there are things that we’ve identified that we’ll look to exploit and we’ll be confident we can do that.
“These are the moments you play for, especially when it comes to playing for Scotland, these big games at a full Murrayfield Stadium, these are the ones we look forward to most.”
