Not all that long ago, the prospect of Scotland beating one of the big beasts of world rugby without Darcy Graham or Duhan van der Merwe would have felt fanciful in the extreme.

The two wingers sit way out on their own as the country’s top two try-scorers of all-time, with their explosive finishing prowess laced through all of Scotland’s best moments over these past few years.

When you throw Blair Kinghorn into the mix at full-back, the holy trinity of Scotland’s back three more or less picked itself for a long, long time.

But there has been a clear shift. With Graham plagued by injuries and Van der Merwe also fighting through his own fitness issues as well as a loss of form over the past year, the triumvirate is no more.

Kinghorn has also been displaced, with Gregor Townsend opting to go with Kyle Rowe at full-back for tomorrow’s clash with the All Blacks at Murrayfield.

The three of them may well come again. But, right now, Townsend has picked a team on form rather than reputation.

By that token, there is a strong core of Glasgow Warriors players throughout the team, with ten of the starting XV playing their club rugby at Scotstoun.

When you also factor in Jack Dempsey and Huw Jones, two players who only left Glasgow back in the summer, that number almost feels like it should jump up to 12.

As one observer noted on social media, could this be Townsend channelling his inner Franco Smith? Perhaps not, but he is right to lean on Glasgow’s men in form.

The Warriors are the only team still unbeaten this season across the URC, the Premiership and the Top14. Scotland would be foolish not to tap into that.

With Rowe at full-back, it is his Glasgow club-mates Kyle Steyn and Jamie Dobie who have been selected on the wings.

Sione Tuipulotu captains the side at centre and will dovetail with Jones, a partnership which has been absolutely lethal for club and country.

With Finn Russell pulling the strings at fly-half, this could well be the backline that starts next year’s World Cup for Scotland.

Graham is a magnificent player when fit, but his body is breaking down too often now. Van der Merwe’s loss of form has been too prolonged and too pronounced to be regarded as a blip.

Kinghorn is still a quality operator but he has been playing some of his rugby for Toulouse recently at fly-half rather than full-back.

Where the aforementioned trio have lit it up for Scotland so often in the past, this could be a time for new heroes to emerge as Townsend’s side go chasing a first-ever victory over the All Blacks.

On the decision to recall Jones and Rowe, Townsend said: ‘They were tough selections. Huw has played a lot of rugby for us.

‘He played in those big performances in the Six Nations against France and England but missed out on the summer tour with injury concerns and also him moving to France.

‘Huw put in an excellent performance for Toulon against Pau and we felt that performance, backed up with his connection with Sione and the others in the squad, just enabled him to get the opportunity.

‘Kyle has always played well for us. He’s not had a huge amount of opportunities but he grabbed them in the summer.

‘He was excellent against Argentina and South Africa. I think his form has been really good this season.

‘Blair hasn’t played that much rugby. I thought he got back into some brilliant form at the end of the season for us. It was a long year for him with the Lions and he had a little niggly injury a few weeks ago.

‘With him on the bench, he’ll be mainly covering back three and we’re feeling that he’s going to have a big impact on the game as well.’

On the absence of Graham and Van der Merwe, Townsend noted: ‘Darcy had picked up another injury last week, so that’s why he wasn’t back playing for Edinburgh.

‘It would have been great if he’d had another game. His calf had tightened up so he wasn’t able to play last weekend, but he’s trained fully this week.

‘Duhan obviously hasn’t played enough rugby yet. He didn’t get many minutes in the game against the Lions, I think. And then at the weekend, he didn’t get much involvement.

‘Just now they’ve got to find a way to get back into the team. They do that through training because they’ve not had the games to show their best form yet.

‘But also it’s a credit to Jamie and Kyle. They’ve started the last few games, they were starting in the Six Nations until Jamie got injured.

‘Jamie started the two big games in the summer and played really well and has been in great form.

‘We understand the quality of player that we have that are not involved this week, but we’re delighted with the quality of player that is in our 23.’

The battle between Scotland playmaker Russell and his opposite number McKenzie will be fascinating as both teams look to reignite their Nations Championship campaign.

It was McKenzie who broke Scotland’s hearts right at the death last year by scoring a quite stupendous try as the All Blacks won 25-17.

The All Blacks will be fluid in terms of how they deploy McKenzie along with Jordie and Beauden Barrett. It’s a triple threat, with all three capable of lining up as first receiver.

Scotland, of course, have never beaten the All Blacks. Townsend has come mightily close on the three occasions he has gone up against them. But, whilst wary of the threat New Zealand will pose, he is determined that his team can go toe-to-toe with one of the form sides in world rugby.

On the fact that New Zealand have named their strongest possible team, he added: ‘We knew they would go strong. They want to win this Nations Championship. They want to build on how well they’ve played over the summer.

‘But they have so much depth that they could bring in someone else and that player would be a world-class player as well. It’s going to be a challenge.

‘We know we’re playing not only a team that’s second in the world, but a team that’s obviously bringing their best team and are in form.’