Bradbury has been very good this season. Indeed I wrote in these pages a couple of weeks ago that Bradbury might have a great opportunity to force himself to the front of the queue for the Scotland eight jersey when Jack Dempsey is unavailable during the Six Nations.

However, it seems he is just not what Gregor Townsend is after. The suggestion is Bradbury's display in the Challenge Cup defeat to Toulon - admittedly his worst of the season - came at a bad time for his chances of making the squad, but it seems harsh to judge him on that solitary display amid an excellent start to the season.

I think Bradbury is really unlucky, and he may well be wondering what his future at Test level looks like.

They have run New Zealand close on the past three occasions and had them where they wanted them last year when Scotland roared back from 17-0 down to level things up at 17-17.

That was perhaps a moment when a little bit of doubt crept in as they stood on the brink of an historic victory, and some Damien McKenzie magic did for the Scots in the end.

The All Blacks have been looking more like the All Blacks in recent times, with Dave Rennie - assisted of course by former Scotland captain Mike Blair - starting to get them trending in the right direction. They were scintillating in dismantling Australia home and away recently, and some of the old aura has returned.

As to what a win would mean for Scotland - it would be seismic.

Ending a 121-year-old barren run against the All Blacks is the kind of statement win this team has been searching for, and would surely give them confidence of finally ending a much shorter (just the 10 years) but probably more maddening winless sequence against Ireland when they meet in the Six Nations.