Glasgow Warriors centre Alex Dunbar believes the knowhow he and his team-mates have generated over the past three years gives them an enhanced chance of making history when they face the All Blacks tonight.

The 27-year-old centre had just established himself in the Scotland squad when New Zealand last visited in 2014 and were pushed to the limit, ultimately winning the match 24-16 and he is one of five survivors in the starting line-up, along with fellow Warriors Stuart Hogg, Tommy Seymour Finn Russell and Jonny Gray.

He is consequently well placed to assess the progress they have made in the interim as they prepare for this attempt to become the first Scots to win a Test against the world’s number one side.

“There were a lot of young guys coming through about that time, a lot of new caps,” said Dunbar.

“There’s a lot of good young talent who now have the experience, probably half a dozen guys from 2013-14 who now have 30 - 40 caps so there’s a lot of experience within the group.”

He believes they can draw upon what they did well that day in seeking to challenge the All Blacks once again.

“On that day we started well and put them under pressure,” said Dunbar.

“We forced them into mistakes they weren’t used to making. We will take a bit of learning out of that.

“You can’t sit off these teams and let them play; if you do that then they can carve you up and score a lot of points.”

He knows they cannot afford to get ahead of themselves as some of them did in that last clash.

“You’ve got to concentrate on each play as it happens, focus on what is happening there and then,” Dunbar asserted.

“We will be focusing on starting well and putting them under pressure.

“As the game goes on the focus changes to what the circumstances are. If it’s a close game you can’t relax and think what the end result will be. You have to play what’s in front of you.”

Scotland can also take inspiration from having recently proven that they do now have what it takes to close games out against leading nations, having shocked New Zealand’s antipodean rivals Australia in Sydney this summer.

“We’ve obviously got a bit more experience,” Dunbar observed.

“We’ve experienced tight losses and we know how bad a feeling it is after the game. We’ve dealt with that, but we’ve now closed out a few tight games that we might have lost a few years ago.

“I think we have it in ourselves to be able to control the circumstances and play our game.”

Scottish rugby was meanwhile given another boost yesterday when it was confirmed that the national team’s captain Johnnie Barclay was returning home to play his domestic rugby.

The 31-year-old former Glasgow flanker will now play his rugby along the M8 at Edinburgh, however after agreeing a two year deal with Richard Cockerill’s improving side.

“I spoke with Richard Cockerill and he outlined his vision for the future,” said Barlcay.

“Edinburgh as a club and as a city, has a huge amount of potential and I can see what they are trying to do, so I’m looking forward to being a part of it.

“Scotland is home, so it’ll be great to come back and play at one of my home clubs.”