SCOTLAND v NEW ZEALAND
ALEX DUNBAR has faced many challenges in his rugby career.
But the Scotland centre admits going up against All Blacks superstar Sonny Bill Williams today at BT Murrayfield will top the lot.
The Glasgow Warrior, who has battled back from yet another injury to be involved in the Autumn Tests, has admired Williams for many years.
And he knows the battle of the No.12s will be key if Gregor Townsend’s men are to have any chance of causing a massive upset against the world’s best side.
Since 1905 hundreds of Scottish rugby players have tried and failed to defeat the mighty All Blacks, drawing twice and losing 28 times. But Dunbar cannot wait to get out there.
Let’s look at the tale of the tape – Dunbar is 27, Williams 32, they have 27 and 44 caps for their countries respectively with seven and 11 tries to their names.
And while there is no doubt that Dunbar is a quality performer for Scotland, Williams is a two-time World Cup winner who has turned his hand to competitive boxing and can do things on a rugby field that most can only dream of.
He has 745,000 Twitter followers and transcends his sport with a sold-out BT Murrayfield crowd – even the 60,000 plus home fans – excited to see him in the flesh.
Indeed it is no coincidence that after he came off the bench in the last match between the two sides in 2014 at the same venue New Zealand got themselves out of a spot of bother and went on to win the game 24-16.
In short, he can create things and spark moments of magic. So how does Dunbar aim to stop him?
He said: “There is no doubt that if you sit back and give him time on the ball then he can do a lot of things.
“He has a good off-loading game and he’s a very good carrier. We will need to switch on and put him under pressure and get stuck in early.
“He and outside centre Ryan Crotty are quality but you could say that for their whole team, in every position they have world-class talent.
“However, as a player that is a great challenge and one that you want.
“We know how quick they want to operate and play at a high tempo to get the ball around the park. We need to impose ourselves on the game, if we sit back and let them do their thing it will be a long 80 minutes and we will struggle.”
Dunbar mentioned the strengths of the Williams-Crotty midfield for New Zealand and when the teams were named on Thursday many Scotland fans winced.
That was because the Dunbar-Huw Jones centre partnership was exposed cruelly