All Blacks need best to beat 'excellent' Scotland - Rennie

New Zealand head coach Dave Rennie says his side will need to produce their best to beat Scotland in the Nations Championship at Murrayfield on Saturday.

The Scots are chasing their first-ever win over the All Blacks, and while the record is one-sided over the 121-year-old history of the fixture, the past four meetings have been decided by single-digit margins.

Rennie knows plenty about the Scotland team from his three years in charge at Glasgow Warriors and has prepared his players for another tough battle at Murrayfield.

"We play a pretty similar type of game," Rennie said of Scotland.

"Obviously, I know a fair bit about their coaches and about the players. They've been excellent at Murrayfield.

"The last four games between the All Blacks and Scotland have been really tight. Last year the boys were able to pull it out of the fire [for a 25-17 win], so we're well aware of the quality of the side and the performance required to beat them on the weekend."

Rennie paid tribute to the work of his assistant Mike Blair, the former Scotland scrum-half and Edinburgh head coach who joined the All Blacks earlier this year.

"He's got a great understanding," Rennie said. "His ability to micro-skill things from a decision-making perspective and he's really innovative around how he delivers that, whether it's at a meeting or on the grass.

"He's been excellent. He made a really big impression with the boys as well. You're seeing evidence of that on the park."

Scotland have been unable to beat the All Blacks in 33 attempts stretching back to 1905.

Rennie, with his Scottish connections, does not want to be the coach to lose that unbeaten record, but says he has not placed too much focus on it in the build-up to avoid giving his players unnecessary "baggage".

He will come up against a number of his former Glasgow players and Rennie has been particularly impressed by how Kyle Steyn has developed as an international and leader.

"He's been an excellent player for a long time," Rennie said. "He's such a good man. I know, with him and Sione [Tuipulotu, Scotland captain], they're probably helping each other out from a Glasgow and a Scottish perspective.

"He's been a really impressive, Kyle. It's been nice to sit back and look from afar at a number of those guys who we had at Glasgow to kick on. Maybe not so good on the weekend, hopefully, but Kyle has been excellent."