Barrett brothers are doubts for All Blacks test in Scotland

EDINBURGH :New Zealand captain Scott Barrett and his brother Jordie are both doubts for Saturday’s test against Scotland after being forced off early in the All Blacks’ weekend win over Ireland in Chicago.

Scott went off after three minutes while Jordie was replaced some 13 minutes later, but New Zealand overcame the setbacks to win 26-13 at Soldier Field on Saturday.

"Scooter (Scott) has a laceration, a cut in the leg,” coach Scott Robertson said.

"We will see how long that is going to take but it is a decent (cut) at the bottom of his knee there.”

Jordie Barrett hurt his ankle and knee in a tackle as an Irish player fell on him but played on briefly.

"He's tough, he just wanted to keep running,” Robertson said. "He got a little bit of a hip drop. We will just see how bad once we’ve done a scan.”

Another Barrett brother on the field, Beauden, added: "Obviously my bros are a bit beaten up. Scott had a laceration on his leg and Jordie's high ankle and knee didn't look great.

"I was super proud and happy with how we responded. I could have let that rattle me, seeing my two bros go off.

"I was impressed with how we stayed connected and stayed aligned on what we wanted to achieve, and we came away with the right result."

The All Blacks have their sights set on a Grand Slam of victories against the four home nations on their November tour with Scotland to come at Murrayfield on Saturday, followed by England at Twickenham on November 15 and Wales in Cardiff one week later.

(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; editing by Pritha Sarkar)