Michael Aylwin's match report
Scotland really could have closed this one out and despite the positives for Gregor Townsend it is hard not see it as a rare chance which has slipped away – they will regret not putting a few more points on the board in the first half which might have set up an historic victory. Credit to the All Blacks for holding out – and scoring a sensational try – with 14 players for much of that climax. That’s all from me, thanks for reading.
Stuart Hogg accepts the man of the match award and says he’s “bloody disappointed” not to have claimed the win. His captain John Barclay says they’ve let a huge opportunity slip by.
Hogg walks away in tears, he’s devastated. “He’s a dangerous player, isn’t he?” Kieran Read says with a grin. “We’re lucky we have a quick player too in Beauden Barrett to catch him.”
Full-time: Scotland 17-22 New Zealand
And with that, the referee blows his whistle. A thrilling second half –Scotland came so close.
80 min Stuart Hogg makes a brilliant run, carving through the All Blacks’ defence and searing towards the corner but he’s hauled into touch with the try line just a few metres away! Agonising.
Updated
79 min Scotland claim the restart and they will end this match searching for that try...
Updated
78 min Russell adds the extra two to put Scotland within a converted try of an historic victory. Scotland 17-22 New Zealand.
Updated
Try! Scotland 15-22 New Zealand (Jones)
77 min They are back in it! Scotland work it wide where Hogg plays a clever bouncing kick down the line. It’s caught by Seymour who passes to Huw Jones and the centre goes over in the corner.
Updated
76 min Liam Squire makes a stunning dash through the Scottish defence but he can’t decide on a pass and eventually loses it at the breakdown, conceding a penalty for holding on.
74 min The All Blacks win a free-kick and of course they opt for a scrum, where not only do they have an advantage but they can eat up valuable time.
73 min They didn’t – the scrum turns and the All Blacks win a penalty.
72 min Scotland are piling on the pressure, but the referee pauses things and hands them a scrum that I’m not sure they really wanted.
71 min Sam Cane returns but with Crockett off, New Zealand remain at 14.
Sin-bin! (Crockett)
70 min Another fantastic response by Scotland who go searching for a try. They win a penalty after Wyatt Crockett cleans out the scrum-half before the ball was out of the ruck, and he’s off.
68 min Barrett adds two more points and the All Blacks have not the sin-binning of Sam Cane affect them. Scotland 10-22 New Zealand.
Try! Scotland 10-20 New Zealand (Barrett)
66 min This is a sublime try. It all starts from Sonny Bill Williams whose backhanded offload in the tackle is almost matched by the bursting run of Damian McKenzie. He charges through the Scottish defence and has Beauden Barrett on his outside to finish the move. So quick, so accurate. Breathtaking rugby by the All Blacks.
64 min After several little gains the ball is spilled by Scottish hands in the centre of pitch. Scrum New Zealand.
62 min Russell adds the two points, and suddenly Scotland are right in this with a one-man advantage for the next nine minutes. Scotland 10-15 New Zealand.
Try! Scotland 8-15 New Zealand (Gray)
61 min Scotland tap the next penalty and finally they break through, as Jonny Gray picks from the ruck and thumps through the tacklers and over the line.
Updated
Sin-bin! (Cane)
60 min Jonny Gray gathers the lineout with a stretch and the Scottish pack drive. They send runners battering into the New Zealand defence, winning a penalty, and when it’s taken quickly Sam Cane concedes another penalty and is sent to the bin.
Updated
59 min Scotland get a penalty following a collapsed maul and they opt to kick to the corner.
58 min Suddenly the game comes alive. New Zealand make a break down the left wing and are surely in for a try but Finn Russell anticipates the final pass and intercepts brilliantly, chipping down field and forcing the All Blacks to scramble back. The crowd enjoyed that passage.
56 min A lull with both teams probing without much luck.
53 min Scotland again build some good momentum but it ends in a mistake when Pete Horne can’t quite grab an offload.
52 min Barrett adds the simple conversion: Scotland 3-15 New Zealand.
Updated
Try! Scotland 3-13 New Zealand (McKenzie)
51 min New Zealand follow a lineout with a drive from the pack before spreading the ball into the centre, where Damian McKenzie gets on the end of clever Williams grubber kick and touches down under the posts.
Hamilton is transported form the field with his ankle in heavy strapping and play resumes.
49 min The clock is stopped for an injury to Luke Hamilton, who looks to have damaged his ankle making a tackle.
47 min Scotland show some more of the excellent running rugby they delivered in the first half, building pressure in the All Blacks’ half, until Horne concedes a penalty for tackling a man at the breakdown.
45 min Barrett doesn’t get the required curl on his kick from the touchline and it remains 3-8.
Try! Scotland 3-8 New Zealand (Taylor)
44 min Rieko Ioane catches a high ball beautifully before offloading and the All Blacks stream forwards. Smith shimmies down the blindside before they shift it all the way across the line to the far side where Codie Taylor is waiting to surge over in the corner.
Updated
42 min They power towards the try line but at the second breakdown Stuart McInally fails to release, under pressure from Sam Whitelock, and that’s a penalty.
41 min New Zealand were oddly lacking in intensity in that first half and they have begun the second in a similar manor. Scotland have a scrum inside the 22, slightly to the left, and it’s a brilliant platform.
Kick-off
Russell kicks the second-half under way and the All Blacks quickly hand over a gift of a knock-on.
A half-time email from Geoffrey Roberts: “It’s good to see the Scots going in with great energy and enthusiasm and they have shown the ABs a thing or two. The ABs look jaded to me, scrappy, untidy so the Scots have a great chance for a famous victory, but what did the man say ... ‘Don’t make them cross’.”
Not a thriller, but Scotland will be delighted with that first 40 minutes. The only disappointment will be that they couldn’t convert some more of those promising positions into points – they should really be in front on the scoreboard.
Half-time: Scotland 3-3 New Zealand
42 min Russell tries a long drop-goal which goes nowhere near, and suddenly the All Blacks collect it and counter at speed through Ioane. They are awarded a penalty for holding on after the tackle which Barrett slams into the Scottish 22. Lineout, deep into this additional time, but an error at the breakdown hands the Scots a penalty which Russell boots into the crowd to end the half.
40 min Williams tries a pass out of the back of the hand but it’s spilled into touch. Scotland will have one last attack before the break.
Penalty! Scotland 3-3 New Zealand (Barrett)
38 min Beauden Barrett puts the penalty through the posts.
37 min Barclay is penalised for trying to rip the ball from the breakdown while he was off his feet. The replay shows he was leaning slightly on the tackled All Black with his knees and he clearly got a warning from Matthew Carley before losing the decision. A chance for the All Blacks to kick themselves level.
35 min The Scottish pack are creaking and they concede a penalty which the All Blacks use to go for another scrum. But this time it spins and Scotland pinch the ball!
34 min A big mistake by Tommy Seymour. The ball clearly touches his leg before bouncing over the Scottish try line, but he touches down all the same. The referee Matthew Carley spots it and the All Blacks have a five-metre scrum.
32 min It’s Fagerson who is penalised at the set piece, conceding a penalty which Barrett boots close to halfway.
31 min Scrum for New Zealand in their own 22. I haven’t needed to bring up the score since the sixth minute – a reminder that Scotland lead 3-0 and they have been good for that advantage, too.
Updated
30 min ...they go through 18 phases when Zander Fagerson spills and New Zealand survive.
29 min Scotland make the most of the penalty, winning the lineout and going on the attack. The home team probe in and around the fringes of the breakdown, cautious not to lose the opportunity...
Referee Matthew Carley decides to give only a penalty, with no card, due to Scotland’s No9 Ali Price impeding Naholo moments before Hogg was taken out. Seemed a yellow card from my seat.
28 min The All Blacks push too early and the scrum is scrapped. Scotland kick long and when it returns, Waisake Naholo seems to take out a leaping Stuart Hogg. To the TMO.
27 min Clock stopped as Hamish Watson receives treatment.
Updated
25 min Cane peels off the back of the lineout and charges into the heart of the Scottish defence. Read picks and goes and several of his team-mates follow suit. They eventually open it out to Barrett but his pass to the charging Ryan Crotty outside him is adjudged to be forwards. A great spot by the referee.
24 min The All Blacks make huge gains via Rieko Ioane’s burst from a lineout, earning a penalty for not moving away near the corner which Barrett kicks to touch.
21 min This has been a near-perfect opening 20 minutes by the home team, bar that handling error a moment ago. Ali Price kicks perfectly to the corner and it bounces off the field for a New Zealand lineout.
20 min It was Russell’s pass to Huw Jones, and Jones who actually dropped the ball in a brilliant position.
19 min Scotland’s forwards work through several phases, slowly increasing the pressure. Suddenly they pass wide but it’s dropped by Russell with the try line beckoning!
18 min Another penalty after Nepo Laulala came in from the side. Kickable, but Scotland want more and go for the corner.
16 min Brilliant enthusiasm at the breakdown by the Scottish forwards and particularly their captain John Barclay, earning a penalty for their work.
@lawrenceostlere brought a tear to my eye seeing Big Doddie & his boys walk out to a rapturous welcome a giant of a man in every sense of the word. He’d probably say “Stop crying ye big Jessie”. The away time to have ironed out a few creases & put 20 on Scotland! NZ intensity!
— John McEnerney (@MackerOnTheMed) November 18, 2017
15 min New Zealand earn a scrum in a useful spot on the left side near Scotland’s 22.
13 min Hogg again joins the line and dances around a tackle, but at the next breakdown Sam Cane is quickly there putting on pressure and forcing a penalty, which the All Blacks kick to touch to gain their first piece of meaningful territory.
12 min Russell’s kick drifts wide of the posts from 40 metres. Not an easy kick, but one you feel shouldn’t be wasted against this opposition.
11 min The Scots are pushed back by the All Blacks’ swarming blitz defence but a moment later Scotland earn a penalty when Vaea Fifita fails to release the ball in the tackle.
9 min Smith box-kicks and doesn’t get huge distance, handing Scotland a lineout in a promising area just outside the 22.
8 min Russell almost claims a crucial interception which would have surely resulted in a try, but drops the ball on the stretch attempting to catch.
Penalty! Scotland 3-0 New Zealand (Russell)
6 min And their slick play generates a first penalty for holding on after the tackle. Finn Russell slots the kick.
Updated
5 min Hogg has started brightly and he almost steps into a gap in the All Black line but is pulled down at the last moment. Scotland are going well, offloading quickly and moving the ball well.
3 min They run it from the back through Sonny Bill Williams, then kick long and a few moments later Russell measures a lovely kick off the pitch with a couple of bounces.
2 min A knock-on by a Scottish hand gives an early scrum to the All Blacks.
Kick-off!
Peeeep and we’re off, and quickly Scotland gain some good territory and earn a lineout in New Zealand’s 22.
Former international Doddie Weir presents the ball to warm applause – it was announced in the summer that he is suffering from Motor Neurone Disease.
Here’s the Haka, fronted by Kieran Read, who made his debut at Murrayfield 108 caps ago.
Flower of Scotland is quite simply the best national anthem out there. Murrayfield gives it some gusto.
“While I would dearly like to see some All Black magic,” emails Geoffrey Roberts, “I fear that the Scots will play right up to and over the legal limit. I know, I know the Britfans cannot ever forgive McCaw for his liberal ways to tame the referee but I hope that in the match the rules will be strictly interpreted. The ‘new scrum rules’ excepted of course.”
Preamble
Scotland have never beaten the All Blacks. In all of their 30 meetings they’ve managed only two draws, conceding 900 points along the way, so how on earth do they go about rewriting history? “It’s just a stat,” insisted the captain John Barclay this week. “We have 80 minutes to try and change that record.” Stuart Hogg had the same fighting talk: “We’re not going out to stand back, watch and admire the All Blacks, are we? They’re the best team in the world, so bring it on. We are more than capable of knocking them over. If you don’t believe that, you are in the wrong place.” It is perhaps a compliment that New Zealand have named their strongest side, but it makes the task at hand just about as difficult as it gets in rugby union.
The teams
Scotland: Stuart Hogg, Tommy Seymour, Huw Jones, Alex Dunbar, Lee Jones, Finn Russell, Ali Price; Cornell du Preez, Hamish Watson, John Barclay (captain), Jonny Gray, Ben Toolis, Zander Fagerson, Stuart McInally, Darryl Marfo.
Replacements: George Turner, Jamie Bhatti, Simon Berghan, Grant Gilchrist, Luke Hamilton, Henry Pyrgos, Pete Horne, Byron McGuigan.
New Zealand: Damian McKenzie, Waisake Naholo, Ryan Crotty, Sonny Bill Williams, Rieko Ioane, Beauden Barrett, Aaron Smith; Kieran Read (captain), Sam Cane, Vaea Fifita, Sam Whitelock, Luke Romano, Nepo Laulala, Codie Taylor, Kane Hames.
Replacements: Nathan Harris, Wyatt Crockett, Ofa Tu’ungafasi, Liam Squire, Matt Todd, TJ Perenara, Lima Sopoaga, Anton Lienert-Brown.
Updated
