The All Blacks will look much the same in terms of players at Murrayfield on Saturday as they did in 2025, give or take some injuries.

But although the core of the team will be similar, the 2026 version will play with a purpose, identity and clarity that was missing 12 months ago.

New Zealand have sharpened their attack since they parted company with head coach Scott Robertson earlier this year, and in their nine Tests under the new regime they have scored 49 tries. To put that into context, they scored 49 tries in 14 Tests in 2024 and 52 in 13 Tests last year.

And the architect of this attacking revolution is Mike Blair, the former Scotland scrum-half, who has been a revelation since he joined the All Blacks as an assistant coach in March.

Blair, a name not widely known in New Zealand despite winning 85 caps and playing for the British and Irish Lions in 2009, was a non-negotiable part of Dave Rennie’s pitch to win the head coaching role.

Rennie first worked with Blair in Glasgow and the two were reunited after the former moved to Japanese club Kobe in 2023. When the All Blacks job came up, Rennie knew immediately he wanted Blair to come with him to lead the attack despite the fact New Zealand Rugby (NZR) had previously shown limited appetite to employ foreign coaches.

“There’s not a lot of top-level professional coaching jobs in New Zealand so we think very carefully about this,” Steve Lancaster, the NZR chief executive, said.

“Once we appointed Dave – and we were clear that the head coach had to be a New Zealander – he was very deliberate about what he believes Mike brings including his northern hemisphere experience, his understanding about the style of game, the way that they approach the game and how that would enhance our mix.”

It is an appointment that demonstrates New Zealand’s decision-makers are now more open to the idea that the All Blacks can benefit from foreign influence.

How Blair sharpened All Black attack

New Zealand’s understanding that their country is not the exclusive owner of high-value rugby intelligence has accelerated in recent months after seeing the way Blair has successfully overhauled what was a confused and vague All Blacks attack plan.

They are flowing again. All season they have been able to play around defences by using a short passing game.

They are relearning the art of using a kicking strategy to enable their counter-attacking plans, and they are once again starting to operate as a genuine triple-threat team where they pass, run and kick in a cohesive way.

They have handed much of the decision-making and tactical oversight to Cameron Roigard, the scrum-half, and let their fly-half, be it the up-and-coming Ruben Love (who is not touring because of ankle surgery) or the veteran Damian McKenzie, play off the rejuvenated Jordie Barrett, who has been transformed into the best inside centre in the world.

The system did not deliver a series win against South Africa, but it drove the All Blacks to score 17 tries in four Tests – a figure unheard of against the best defensive side in the world – and saw them destroy Australia on consecutive weekends last month.

The first 40 minutes in Sydney against the Wallabies was one of the best demonstrations of attacking rugby the All Blacks have produced in a decade, and it was rugby played by New Zealand but made in Scotland.

Mackintosh’s micro-skills makeover

If that seems hyperbolic, the Scottish influence within the All Blacks extends beyond Blair. Also in the set-up is Euan Mackintosh, the skills acquisition coach, who Rennie head-hunted from Japanese club Toshiba Brave Lupus.

Mackintosh, schooled in Inverness, has been charged with improving the micro-skills execution of the All Blacks and the evidence that he is making a difference came in the two Tests against Australia where New Zealand dominated aerially.

Retrieving high kicks has been a long-standing issue for the All Blacks, but they appear to have made giant strides in that area with Mackintosh, using novel training techniques such as having players wear strobe glasses.

There is one other significant Scottish figure having a major impact in New Zealand, albeit operating outside the All Black set-up: Clark Laidlaw, who coached the Hurricanes to this year’s Super Rugby title.

He has been instrumental in shaping the careers of Roigard, Love, Barrett and other prominent All Blacks such as Peter Lakai and Asafo Aumua, while the national team has also borrowed heavily from the sharp attacking patterns employed by the Hurricanes.

Where next for Scottish coaching talents?

The intrigue with Blair and Laidlaw is where they end up after next year’s World Cup. NZR has already announced that Tony Brown – the Kiwi operating as attack coach with the Springboks – will join the All Blacks in 2028.

That does not preclude Blair, who is contracted with the All Blacks through to the end of 2027, from extending his stay in New Zealand, but it hints that his future probably lies elsewhere.

Similarly, Laidlaw, who is the son of Scotland legend Roy Laidlaw, extended his contract with the Hurricanes until the end of next year.

There is talk that both men could potentially be open to working together, with Laidlaw head coach and Blair as his assistant should Gregor Townsend leave his post as Scotland head coach after the 2027 World Cup.

“We’d love to keep them [Blair and Laidlaw] but we don’t exist in a vacuum here in New Zealand,” Lancaster said.

“Clark has been a part of our family for a long time. We’ve contributed to his development, but he’s contributed to our success as well as he is now with the Hurricanes.

“We don’t view him as a foreign coach, we just view him as one of ours. And just like any other New Zealand coach that gets an opportunity to go and coach overseas, if he gets that, we’ll pat him on the back and wish him well.”