Match Report: Scotland 17-25 New Zealand

Scottish Gas Murrayfield was a picture for the Centenary Test as 100 years of the grand stadium was marked with an RAF Typhoon fly-past moments before kick-off.

And it was New Zealand who flew out the blocks, a ridiculous pick and go from second row Josh Lord seeing the big lock waltz up the pitch, eventually waiting for scrum-half Cam Roigard to time his support run and go over for the easiest of starters. Beauden Barret converted against the backdrop of a shellshocked home support (7-0, 3 mins).

The inevitable riposte came as Scotland stress-tested the All Blacks’ defence for more than 10 phases, but the tackle suffocation brought its own pressure and the hosts knocked on when they couldn’t pierce their opponents’ watertight guard.

Scotland were working at capacity, but each time they did get a semblance of momentum and approached the gain line, they were smothered by a hungry and accurate Kiwi defence.

When well set in the Scottish 22, the All Blacks opted for scrum to try to assert their physical dominance, battering their bodies against a seemingly beleaguered defence, but Murrayfield let out an almighty roar when the hosts conjured up the resilience to force a knock-on with New Zealand all but over the line. Referee Nic Berry then heard from the TMO Mars van der Westhuizen that a player had been illegally hauled from a ruck, and Finn Russell kicked his side up to halfway.

Russell’s ludicrous touch-finder from hand, owing to Jordan’s mis-field, saw the audio levels rise further as Scotland got a line-out 15m out. They managed to make good a scrappy set play and when Kinghorn scissored with Darcy Graham, the pocket rocket look set to score, only for that renowned New Zealand defence to hold it up and escape with a goal-line drop-out.

Graham’s attempted step of Caleb Clarke was easily snuffed out which landed the Scots in all manner of trouble. Three points for a host of offside infringements seemed like an escape in itself (0-10, 29 mins).

That man Graham was at the centre of everything, and the next act was a big one. When opposing 14 Leroy Carter deliberately wiped him out with a trip, referee Berry eventually decided that a yellow card was punishment enough.

Scotland went as they did in the previous attacking act, with the same outcome as Rory Hutchinson was this time held up.

New Zealand then apparently killed the game in devastating style before the interval. Wallace Sititi made it look too easy, dummying and sending Will Jordan over as the All Blacks bookended the half with tries (0-17, 40 mins).

Half-time: Scotland 0-17 New Zealand

Scotland simply had to muster something early doors in the second half and they duly delivered through Ewan Ashman after a terrific driving line-out maul. Russell converted the extras and the hosts built further belief with Ardie Savea’s yellow card for attempting to bring down Ashman’s maul (7-17, 46 mins).

A galvanised support sensed the time was now to really turn the screw and another attacking line-out brought a second try and cranked the decibel level up further. This time it was Kyle Steyn, who calmly took Kinghorn’s looping ball to make it two tries in five minutes, with Russell’s extras making it a three-point game out of nowhere (14-17, 51 mins).

It was almost beyond belief that they would go again but Scotland went mightily close to going in again. Ashman’s tearaway scamper up the left touchline was brought down short but Pierre Schoeman, then Jack Dempsey and then Gregor Brown all went within a metre of what would have surely been the most swift of Murrayfield team hat-tricks. A knock-on put paid to that, but remarkably Scotland then went ever closer as Kinghorn fed Graham up the right and the winger wriggled his way to the line, just losing control at the very last.

It was hard to keep up! Even more so when Dempsey intercepted a regulation Roigard pass to launch himself halfway to Roseburn Park. New Zealand cleared the threat but were offside when substitute Samisoni Taukei’aho was left on his own and Russell tied the scores (17-17, 58 mins).

Wallace Sititi then deliberately knocked on as the cards finally started to fall for Scotland, his sin-binning representing a third yellow of the afternoon for New Zealand.

However, they held firm and back up to 15 players, sucker-punched when it mattered most, with replacement Damian McKenzie defying physics to stem the bleeding and get his side back in front with a try that slotted nicely with the unpredictable narrative of the afternoon (17-22, 74 mins).

McKenzie then displayed supreme calmness to land a long-range penalty goal to finally put Scotland to the sword and end a pulsating contest (17-25, 78 mins).

Full-time: Scotland 17-25 New Zealand

Scotland: Blair Kinghorn (Toulouse), Darcy Graham (Edinburgh Rugby), Rory Hutchinson (Northampton Saints), Sione Tuipulotu (Glasgow Warriors) (captain), Kyle Steyn (Glasgow Warriors); Finn Russell (Bath Rugby), Ben White (Toulon); Pierre Schoeman, Ewan Ashman, D’arcy Rae (all Edinburgh Rugby), Scott Cummings (Glasgow Warriors), Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh Rugby), Gregor Brown, Matt Fagerson, Jack Dempsey (all Glasgow Warriors).

Replacements: George Turner (Harlequins) For Ashman (54 mins), Rory Sutherland (Glasgow Warriors) (for Schoeman, 54 mins), Elliot Millar Mills (Northampton Saints) (for Rae, 54 mins), Marshall Sykes (Edinburgh Rugby) (for Gilchrist, 63 mins), Rory Darge (Glasgow Warriors) (for Fagerson, 59 mins), Josh Bayliss (Bath Rugby) (for Dempsey, 65 mins), Jamie Dobie (Glasgow Warriors) (for White, 54 mins), Tom Jordan (Bristol Bears) (for Russell, 74 mins).

New Zealand: Will Jordan, Leroy Carter, Leicester Fainga’anuku, Quinn Tupaea, Caleb Clarke; Beauden Barrett, Cameron Roigard; Ethan de Groot, Codie Taylor, Fletcher Newell, Josh Lord, Fabian Holland, Wallace Sititi, Ardie Savea (capt), Peter Lakai.

Replacements: Samisoni Taukei’aho,  Tamaiti Williams, Pasilio Tosi, Sam Darry, Du’Plessis Kirifi, Cortez Ratima, Billy Proctor, Damian McKenzie.

Referee: Nic Berry (RA)
Assistant Referees: Pierre Brousset (FFR) and Morné Ferreira (SARU)
TMO: Marius van der Westhuizen (SARU)
FRPO: Marius Jonker (SARU)

Attendance: 67,144

Quilter Player of the Match: Damian McKenzie (New Zealand)