All Blacks survive brave Scotland fightback to edge thriller
MATCH REPORT: The All Blacks’ Grand Slam dream lives on after they survived a second-half fightback by Scotland to record a 25-17 win at Murrayfield Stadium.
The visitors had a 17-0 lead at half-time before a huge momentum swing saw Gregor Townsend’s side level the scores after 60 minutes.
However, Damian McKenzie’s brilliant try-scoring finish in the 74th minute and long-range penalty goal in the 79th minute took the game away from the Scots.
The result means that the All Blacks are still unbeaten against Scotland in 33 matches.
The All Blacks applied the early pressure with ball in hand, and they opened the scoring in the third minute.
Josh Lord caught the Scotland defence napping by picking the ball up from a breakdown in the midfield and sprinting downfield before offloading to Cam Roigard, who sprinted in for the five-pointer.
The visitors were dominating play after that, but some brave Scottish defence kept New Zealand’s powerful ball runners out when it mattered.
Beauden Barrett eventually increased his team’s lead to 10 points in the 29th minute with a penalty goal.
However, the All Blacks were reduced to 14 men in the 33rd minute when wing Leroy Carter was given a yellow card for tripping Dracy Graham.
Scotland had their moments with ball in hand. But it was the All Blacks who had the final say in the first half, with Wallace Sititi in acres of space down the touchline before feeding the ball to Will Jordan, who ran in for a try.
Scotland came out firing in the second half, and they were finally rewarded when Ewan Ashman found his way to the tryline from a powerful driving maul.
New Zealand captain Ardie Savea was also sent to the sin-bin for trying to collapse that maul.
Things got even better for Scotland in the 51st minute when some swift passing inside New Zealand’s 22 resulted in a try for Kyle Steyn.
The momentum was firmly on Scotland’s side and they were nearly in again when Darcy weaved his way to the tryline before losing control of ball while trying to place it.
The scores were level in the 60th minute after a Finn Russell penalty goal before the All Blacks had their third player sent to the bin.
This time it was Sititi for a deliberate knock-on in the 61st minute.
With the clock winding down, the All Blacks started to compose themselves, and they eventually regained the lead with a brilliant try.
After keeping the ball close with their forwards in the Scottish 22, the ball went wide, and McKenzie showed excellent skill to squeeze over for a score in the corner after fending off a defender before turning to put the ball down with one hand.
McKenzie eventually put the game to bed with a long-range penalty goal in the 79th minute, which gave his team that eight-point lead.
Man of the match: Damian McKenzie made a huge impact off the bench, and he scored the crucial try. Wallace Sititi was also influential in open play. However, the award goes to Scotland No.8 Jack Dempsey, who was a powerhouse with ball in hand, and he just made life difficult for the visitors.
Moment of the match: Definitely Damian McKenzie’s sensational 74th-minute try.
The scorers:
For Scotland:
Tries: Ashman, Steyn
Cons: Russell 2
Pen: Russell
For New Zealand:
Tries: Roigard, Jordan, McKenzie
Cons: Barrett 2
Pens: Barrett, McKenzie
Yellow cards: Leroy Carter (New Zealand, 33′ – cynical play, tripping an opponent); Ardie Savea (New Zealand, 46′ – cynical play, collapsing the maul); Wallace Sititi (New Zealand, 61′ – cynical play, deliberate knock-on)
Teams:
Scotland: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Rory Hutchinson, 12 Sione Tuipulotu (captain), 11 Kyle Steyn, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben White, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Matt Fagerson, 6 Gregor Brown, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Scott Cummings, 3 D’Arcy Rae, 2 Ewan Ashman, 1 Pierre Schoeman.
Replacements: 16 George Turner, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Elliot Millar Mills, 19 Marshall Sykes, 20 Rory Darge, 21 Josh Bayliss, 22 Jamie Dobie, 23 Tom Jordan.
New Zealand: 15 Will Jordan, 14 Leroy Carter, 13 Leicester Fainga’anuku, 12 Quinn Tupaea, 11 Caleb Clarke, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Cam Roigard, 8 Peter Lakai, 7 Ardie Savea (captain), 6 Wallace Sititi, 5 Fabian Holland, 4 Josh Lord, 3 Fletcher Newell, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Ethan de Groot.
Replacements: 16 Samisoni Taukei’aho, 17 Tamaiti Williams, 18 Pasilio Tosi, 19 Sam Darry, 20 Du’Plessis Kirifi, 21 Cortez Ratima, 22 Billy Proctor, 23 Damian McKenzie.
Referee: Nic Berry (Australia)
Assistant referees: Pierre Brousset (France) & Morné Ferreira (South Africa)
TMO: Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
