The Scotsman's David Ferguson talks to Scottish Rugby Union president Ian McLauchlan - the only Scot to have beaten the All Blacks twice.
"McLauchlan played in all four Tests, winning in Dunedin and Wellington, drawing in Auckland and losing in Christchurch, came home with the new moniker "Mighty Mouse" and would go on to play as central a role in the Lions' famous unbeaten tour of South Africa in 1974. But New Zealand was the toughest, he says without hesitation.
"What New Zealand is, you have to understand, is a rugby nation in its truest sense," he says with a clear tone of respect. "When you go to New Zealand everybody knows exactly who you are, where you play, what you do … everything about you and your team.
"On the field they try to kill you and off the field they try to kill you. On it, they love rugby and try to do it through sheer physicality and skill, and off the field they are the kindest people I have ever met, and kill you with kindness.
"When you're touring the country there is a unique tension and pressure because everything is so intensely focused on rugby, so you can never get away from it. That is something most of our boys will find new when they arrive in Invercargill on Wednesday and it's something they, and all the other squads flying in, will have to learn to cope with over the next few weeks."
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