Gavin Hastings wants Scotland to force Kiwi errors

SCOTLAND legend Gavin Hastings believes that the best way for the current crop of players to go about trying to cause a major upset on Saturday against New Zealand is to force them into making mistakes.
Gavin Hastings: Have a go. Picture: John DevlinGavin Hastings: Have a go. Picture: John Devlin
Gavin Hastings: Have a go. Picture: John Devlin

The 52-year-old, who spent a season playing in New Zealand for Auckland University after the 1987 World Cup, knows it will be a very difficult task for Scotland to come away with a victory at BT Murrayfield.

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He never beat the All Blacks himself with Scotland of course as they have never defeated them, but was captain of the British & Irish Lions team which won 20-7 in the Second Test in Wellington in 1993.

Hastings, who won 61 Scotland caps between 1986 and 1995, said: “When you play New Zealand you have got to force them to make mistakes and put them in a situation that they are not used to. Given the fact that Scotland have never beaten New Zealand it is always going to be an incredibly difficult task.

“However, I’d love to see Scotland continue to go out there and score more tries and with Stuart Hogg at full-back and some good wingers like Tommy Seymour and Sean Maitland – with Tim Visser and Sean Lamont waiting for a chance – we have some really capable players.

“You always look for signs of improvement and signs of players having a go and being prepared to have a go and Scotland are starting to do this a bit more at the moment.”

Meanwhile, Hastings has expressed concerns over the current top players’ workload.

“I think professional players play too much rugby,” he stated.

“I think the welfare of rugby players is not at the forefront at the minute and it should be. I think the season should be shorter and the rest periods longer.”

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