Sawt Falasteen - Barrett brothers out of All Blacks' clash with Scotland

Both players were pulled from the field with injuries during New Zealand's 26-13 win over Ireland in Chicago.

Scott Barrett received a cut to his leg three minutes into the match, and required a dozen stitches.

Jordie Barrett suffered a high ankle injury after only 13 minutes and was unable to continue.

All Blacks coach Scott Robertson said Jordie Barrett would have a scan to assess the damage to his ankle, before a potential return was set.

Auckland Blues lock Josh Beehre was called in as cover.

Assistant coach Tamati Ellison said Monday the team were "a bit nervous" about the longer term health of inside-centre Jordie Barrett as the All Blacks openly seek to win the grand slam during their tour -- beating each of the home nations, Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales.

"He is tough," Ellison said of Jordie Barrett. "He was wanting to play on, and that probably makes us a wee bit nervous with how tough he is and having to come off. Fingers crossed."

Robertson said he will select the "strongest team possible" considering the injuries.

New Zealand have won 30 of the 32 Tests between the two countries spanning 117 years, with Scotland's best results in that time against the All Blacks two Murrayfield draws -- 0-0 in 1964 and a 25-25 thriller in 1983.

But it looked like Scotland were about to end one of the longest winless streaks in world sport when they led 23-14 going into the last quarter of their most recent meeting three years ago, only for New Zealand to prevail 31-23.

That experience may prove invaluable as Scotland seek out that first ever win.

"I think a lot of growth and learning will be around how we stay on track, how we build on leads when we have them like that," Scotland forwards coach John Dalziel said on Monday.

"I suppose the mental toughness side of it -- how we can make sure, if we get back in that position with 20 minutes to go on the clock, that we can see it home."

Scotland started their Autumn campaign with an 85-0 rout of the United States, a second-tier rugby nation, at Murrayfield which they hope will set them for a far tougher prospect at the weekend.

"I think there's been a huge stigma with the All Blacks in the past and a lot of teams have built that up," added Dalziel.

"We're really trying to focus on ourselves, on the game and what we build, and that's really been the approach this campaign, so we'll keep it that way."

K.AbuTaha--SF-PST