Scotland assistant coach Pete Horne has offered his condolences to the New Zealand camp following the death of their long-serving head of security, Logan Cadwallader, in Edinburgh on Sunday morning.
The All Blacks confirmed that Cadwallader, described as a "much-loved and respected member" of their organisation for the past 10 years, died after suffering a medical episode at the team's hotel in the Scottish capital.
Horne's Sympathy for All Blacks
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, Horne said: "I can only imagine what they must be going through just now. I think if we lost anyone like that it would really hurt us to the core. Our thoughts go out to the All Blacks camp and of course Logan's family as well."
"Being on the other side of the world, it must have been even more horrific for them. It's really sad news, but I'm sure the squad are rallying around each other."
Injury Concerns for Scotland
Turning to rugby matters, Horne spoke of his disappointment at losing back-rower Jamie Ritchie and prop Elliot Millar Mills through injury ahead of forthcoming fixtures against New Zealand, Australia and Japan.
"Bless Jamie, he's just had no luck recently," Horne said. "It's been one injury to another. Sometimes you have little spells like that in your career."
"Jamie's well-versed in that, he's had a few of them in his time, but he's a resilient man, he's been there before. It'll hurt for a couple of weeks, no doubt, especially when he's watching the games from home or whatever, but he'll be fine."
"Elliot Millar Mills is another big loss so we're disappointed for those lads, but apart from that, we've got a pretty clean bill of health, thankfully."
Russell Anticipates All Blacks Clash
Scotland talisman Finn Russell is eagerly anticipating what will be only his fifth encounter with the All Blacks since making his Test debut over 12 years ago.
"There's always something special about playing New Zealand," said the Bath stand-off. "As a kid you grow up watching the All Blacks, the Haka, etc."
"The way they're playing, especially since (head coach) Dave Rennie has come in, they've been awesome. They're up there in the top two in the world with South Africa. It's an exciting challenge for us to have. For Scotland you don't get to play the All Blacks that much so it's always great fun."
Russell, who has featured from the start in all five of Bath's Premiership fixtures this season, believes he's in excellent form after spending much of last campaign recharging following his demanding British and Irish Lions tour in 2025.
"I had quite a lot of time off and I felt like I didn't play that much last season," said the 34-year-old. "After the Lions I had a few weeks off at the start of the season."
"I think it was a season where I was getting back into it after a really big year before, having won everything (with Bath in 2024-25) and then going to the Lions, it was probably a tough year to come back into."
"But I'm feeling good this year, mentally feeling fresh and physically feeling good."
