{"id":270024,"date":"2025-11-08T01:44:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-08T01:44:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/270024\/"},"modified":"2025-11-08T01:44:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-08T01:44:11","slug":"sean-maitlands-take-on-scotland-dropping-duhan-van-der-merwe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/270024\/","title":{"rendered":"Sean Maitland’s take on Scotland dropping Duhan van der Merwe"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Kiwi-born former Scotland<\/a> international Sean Maitland<\/a> has joined a growing list of pundits saying that this weekend\u2019s Test is Scotland\u2019s best chance yet to claim a maiden win over the All Blacks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Aiding the former Crusader\u2019s confidence is a big selection call on the left wing, where Kyle Steyn<\/a> has replaced Lions<\/a> powerhouse Duhan van der Merwe. Steyn joins Darcy Graham<\/a> and Blair Kinghorn<\/a> as Scotland\u2019s outside backs.<\/p>\n

The trio are tasked with completing a star-studded Scotland backline, with Finn Russell<\/a> and Sione Tuipulotu<\/a> sure to draw plenty of attention in the centre field. Maitland, who played just a few Tests at fullback in his international career, was full of praise for Kinghorn in particular.<\/p>\n

\u201cMate, he\u2019s world-class,\u201d the 37-year-old told Sport Nation<\/a>. \u201cHe\u2019s six-foot-four, six-foot-five, he\u2019s good in the air, he\u2019s got a massive cannon for a right boot, and he\u2019s obviously on form. He\u2019s probably one of the top fullbacks in the world at the moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo years ago, he was at Edinburgh, and he got the magic call from Toulouse<\/a> of all clubs, saying haere mai (welcome).<\/p>\n

\u201cYou should see what he\u2019s done in the last two years. Obviously, he was the starting fullback after (Stuart) Hogg left, and he\u2019s taken the 15 jersey with both hands. He can play on the wing; his best position is definitely fullback. He was the starting Lions 15; he\u2019s a (work) horse.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s got his wingers; a big call with Duhan (Van der Merwe) not even making the team, but I rate that. I think Kyle Steyn\u2019s a classy operator, and Darcy Graham is a different kind of winger. So that relationship between that back three, they work well.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d say Darcy was unlucky not to make the Lions\u2019 initial squad. I thought he should have made it instead of Duhan. It\u2019s a big call, he\u2019s obviously a fan favourite, Duhan. He scores a lot of tries, a shitload of tries. He\u2019s a try-scoring machine.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut Kyle Steyn<\/a>, he\u2019s a classy operator, he\u2019s solid under the high ball. Thank the lord this (escort) rule didn\u2019t come in when we were playing. It\u2019s a 50\/50 contest now, isn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n

Maitland went on to explain why Scotland\u2019s backline has the side so well-placed for a historic upset.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s Scotland\u2019s DNA at the moment? They\u2019re throwing the ball around, they\u2019re playing wide, Finn\u2019s throwing these long seeds. He\u2019s a smart player. Everyone says he\u2019s a bit of a Maverick, but over the last three or four years, his control of a game has grown, and he\u2019s one of the best 10s in the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, his plan A is throwing the ball around, playing with speed. But he\u2019s a smart player, and when it\u2019s on to kick, he\u2019ll know what to do.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn terms of the kicking game, you\u2019ve got Darcy, who\u2019s probably not the best in the air, but he does get up, he does try and make himself a nuisance. But you\u2019ve got Blair, you\u2019ve got Kyle Steyn, so we\u2019ll see.\u201d<\/p>\n

Summarising Scotland\u2019s chances against the Kiwis, while Maitland recognised the opportunity for a Scottish win, he also recognised some roadblocks that could be the team\u2019s undoing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s definitely the best chance the boys have got. The stars have got to align; they\u2019ve got to play for 80 minutes, obviously. I\u2019ve just looked at the team now, and I\u2019m looking at the backline, and oh my gosh, that is tasty.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only thing that worries me is that forward pack, but I think the chances are good. I\u2019m hoping we can finally get that win over the All Blacks, after 120 years of pain. It\u2019s a big occasion for the country, for the union, for the 100 years at Murrayfield, they\u2019ve obviously got a special jersey. It\u2019s going to be big, so hopefully we can do it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kiwi-born former Scotland international Sean Maitland has joined a growing list of pundits saying that this weekend\u2019s Test…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":270025,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-270024","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-rugby","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270024","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=270024"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270024\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/270025"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=270024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=270024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=270024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}