Jack Dempsey Says Scotland Need Consistency to Beat New Zealand

What changed

Jack Dempsey says Scotland’s route past New Zealand is consistency: stronger momentum inside matches and a clearer collective message. Scotland face the All Blacks at Murrayfield on Saturday, after three consecutive near misses under Gregor Townsend.

The match will also be Dempsey’s 50th Test, including 36 for Scotland. Now with Toshiba Brave Lupus in Japan, he will miss Scotland’s Six Nations campaign but remain available for the Nations Championship and Rugby World Cup.

Why it matters

Dempsey’s diagnosis is blunt. Scotland can look like the best team in the world for 20 minutes, then the worst for the next 20. Against New Zealand, that swing has repeatedly turned opportunity into frustration.

His proposed fix is not a new trick. It is pressure, repeated until it becomes habit: make opponents earn every defensive phase, then make every Scottish possession harder to defend. The aim is to stop matches being decided by short lapses.

That makes Saturday a test of Scotland’s identity as much as its ambition. They still have no first victory over New Zealand, and Dempsey’s plan only works if the team can sustain those standards for longer than its best spell.