Duhan van der Merwe, Jamie Ritchie and Zander Fagerson out of All Blacks clash

Gregor Townsend has named his team to face New Zealand (Jane Barlow/PA)

Duhan van der Merwe, Jamie Ritchie and Zander Fagerson are all notable absentees from Scotland’s 23 for Saturday’s Murrayfield showdown with New Zealand.

All three have been regular starters for Gregor Townsend in recent seasons. While prop Fagerson was in a well-documented battle to be to be fit after being sidelined by injury since early April, there was no indication that joint record scorer Van der Merwe and former Scotland captain Ritchie were struggling.