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Highlights: Scotland 21-43 New Zealand

By

Tom English

BBC Scotland's chief sports writer

  • Published4 minutes ago

Fair play to the All Blacks. At least this time they didn't wait until the closing minutes to put Scotland away, they took them out of their misery way earlier than that. A small mercy, in a sense.

No dramas, no late moments of All Black genius required, no clutch try to swing it in the end and break Scottish hearts. Those late sucker-punches? They're the worst.

It's easier this way. You know where you are with shellackings. It's the near misses that are harder to take.

If you're going to lose to the All Blacks, maybe it's better to be routed than robbed, better to be outclassed than walking away with a sense of grievance or a feeling a win was left behind.

This was a systematic dismantling, all over in the 51st minute when Beauden Barrett, as much of a genius now at the age of 35 as he ever was, scored his second try of the day.

Barrett is now on 50 Test tries and 148 caps. Murrayfield witnessed one of the all-time greats on Saturday; classy, intelligent and ruthless. Any notion Scotland could bring an end to 121 years without a win against New Zealand was trampled underfoot by Barrett and his band of brothers; blood brothers and otherwise.

All Blacks get turned on by adversity

The first half was a thrill-fest, the second half was an annihilation. At the break, with Ewan Ashman having completed his hat-trick and Murrayfield rocking, the great Richie McCaw stood away to the side, just below the media gantry.

Was he ashen-faced - or Ashman-faced - at the space Scotland were finding and the tries they were scoring? Was he fretful this just might be the day the record tumbles?

Er, no. He took out his phone and started tapping in the manner of a guy ordering a taxi - for Scotland, of course. McCaw, and every All Black in his wake, don't worry in moments like this.

They just up the ante and back themselves. They increase the intensity, the accuracy, the power. They feast on mistakes and accelerate away.

The second half was 19-0 to the All Blacks. That's what outstanding rugby teams do. Away from home against a dangerous team in front of a loud crowd. They embrace adversity. They get turned on by it.

Dave Rennie's favourite word, in a rugby context, is brutal, as in brutal physicality, brutal execution, brutal in putting a foot on an opponent's throat and keeping it there. All of that was visited upon Scotland. New Zealand were better and smarter. Their rugby IQ was on a different level.

Scotland defence mired in quicksand

Image source,SNS
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Former Glasgow Warriors head coach Dave Rennie, right, enjoyed a truiumphant return to Scotland with the All Blacks

Gregor Townsend and his players spoke later about where it all went wrong. Didn't take enough of their chances in the first half, didn't make it hard enough for New Zealand to get field position, didn't survive at the breakdown, didn't deliver on discipline, didn't look after ball.

All true, but the greater truth is that after three close Tests under Townsend since 2017, New Zealand have now pulled miles clear of Scotland.

Townsend can talk about all the little things and some of the big things Scotland got wrong but these things didn't suddenly afflict his team. They didn't just drop out of the sky. They're in the DNA of this team. We have seen these failings before in defeat and even in victory.

Scotland's attack can be a thing of wonder, capable of creating space and delivering sensational tries against the very best teams on the planet. They did it on Saturday against the All Blacks, they did it against South Africa in July, they did it against France and Ireland in March. These are good rugby players.

The elite teams pride themselves on defence - and that's where Scotland are mired in quicksand. They conceded five tries in defeat to the Pumas last autumn. In victory, they put 50 on France but conceded 40 points and six tries.

They shipped 43 points against Ireland and another six tries. They lost 42-18 to the Boks in the summer and gave up another six tries. They beat the Pumas but, again, their inability to be savage on the other side of the ball saw them conceding 38 points and five tries. It was another 40-pointer against the All Blacks - and another six tries.

Townsend must repair morale as Wallabies await

There were lovely moments in all of those Tests, but Scotland's big mantra coming into the autumn was all about making life difficult for opponents, making sure every yard they made in possession was only won after a battle, every try they scored was only achieved after fighting for their lives through the phases.

Worthy sentiments and an important mission statement, but four minutes into it on Saturday, New Zealand threw a bit of trickery at Scotland at a lineout and scored with ease.

The piece of deception - two runners bolting off a lineout as decoy men - has been done by a few teams already this season. It wasn't a revelation but it was enough to fool Scotland.

The irony came in the name of the scorer. Scotland wanted their defence to be Braveheart in its, well, brutality. Wallace Sititi scored that first try. The back-row was named after William Wallace. So much for freedom from concession of soft scores.

The All Blacks got to 43 points with 12 minutes left. They could have had more, but they'd made their point. They're back. Not at Springbok level, clearly, but improving.

Rennie, and his sidekick Mike Blair, have brought huge improvement in a relatively short time. These All Blacks are light years ahead of the version Scott Robertson brought here 12 months ago.

Townsend must now piece together shattered morale and go again next Sunday. The Wallabies are up next. Scotland have won four of their past five against Australia, all under Townsend, and will be expected to make it five from six.

The Wallabies will fancy a crack at them, though. They'll respect Scotland's ability with ball in hand but relish a shot at exposing the weakness in their ranks. You don't need 20-20 vision to spot the frailties in this team. The All Blacks found them with ease in that sobering second-half schooling.

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