Well done Scotland

Well it may sound strange to say that but having come from seeing the game over lunch, I take my hat off to to the Scottish team. They were competitive even though the scoreline suggests it was a comfortable victory for the ABs. But after a brace of tries in the middle part of the first half, Scotland came back well in the first half and after being held up, gathered their strength and got a well deserved try. Together with Visser's intercept try they started and ended well.

What Scotland must learn is that you must do the basics well. To concede points, you must get your restarts right. In front of the kicker and not going quite 10m (marginal but seemed the right call), it gave the ABs an ideal attacking platform. They didn't have much territory and possession was slightly in their favour but they made their chances count.

After a shaky start in the scrum, Scotland improved throughout the game and seemed to finish stronger there. I think their forwards played very well today and despite a few injuries and Murray out, they did well at the breakdown and spoiled a lot of AB ball. In the second half, they got on top of the ABs and put them under pressure. To score three tries against NZ is not a common occurrence. After the big defeat in 2010, this was a much better account of themselves and even though they have things to work on and silly errors like not throwing in straight or handling at crucial times, they have shown that their new players like Gray, Denton, Visser add all-round strength to their game and they look a handful. They should be confident of their chances in the 6N but it is important they learn from today and take on SA next week knowing that they can compete and need to do the basics better and apply pressure not only on attack but also in defence as too many times they let slip at key moments in the latter.

As for NZ, they will be happy enough with the win but won't be too happy they conceded so many points and looked ordinary at times in the second half. The first try was against the run of play and Carter made amends for that ill-advised pass by setting up Dagg for the second. Barrett showed his versatility by being able to cover for Dagg's injury and that looked painful. He won't play against Italy and here's hoping he's back for Wales.

The handling for Jane's try was superb and those three tries in the space of a few minutes meant the result was never in doubt. Thomson was lucky not to see red for his ill-advised stamping of a player and no doubt a suspension is coming because that kind of thing has no place in the game. I'd be surprised if it wasn't 2 weeks or more and Hansen won't be happy about that at all. TK had a game to forget coming on for Weepu and seemed to make mistakes every time he touched the ball when he soon came on. He settled down eventually but it was a forgettable debut. Ellison and Smith were solid but unspectacular and Savea did enough with his two well taken tries to merit another outing. I think Vito had a strong game but the NZ tactic of holding off from the ruck area and committing men out wide is causing us often to lose the ball. Visser's second try (a marginal decision for me where the kick through came after a ruck was formed similar to what happened in the RWC final) was an example. I don't think having a raft of players in the backline is always a good thing and wish we protected our ball better.

So a short spell of brilliance from the ABs which took the game away from Scotland but much like Scotland a lot to work from. But a good game where both sides gained momentum and dominated periods of the match. Not much to like at times and Scotland showed this side can be made to look ordinary if put under sustained pressure but many things to be happy about from both sides. Good on you Scotland and all the best for the coming games and the 6N. After the promising tour down under, there is something solid to build on and much cause for confidence.

Thanks Kia, kind words and nice to see an AB supporter happy with our showing this time around ..!!

Also agree with every word you said.

Well I have a Scottish father so Scotland are always my sentimenal team Kick and Chase. But out of the Home Nations and Ireland, I think Scotland looked handy. Obviously England scored a brace of tries but that doesn't tell the whole picture and I think the team they were facing and the performance they gave puts them right up there.

France looked the most complete, England looked good and very good in patches and Scotland looked fresh and hungry though by no means the complete picture in the backline particularly in open play. But they looked a cut above Ireland and Wales, who looked lethargic and lacked cohesion. So they must now show no fear against SA. Nothing gains confidence and momentum better than a win against top opposition.

When did Scotland last score three tries against atop 8 side?

Yes was a great effort considering most were writing them off. At times they represented whats best in World rugby- the try before half time, immediately after being denied one at the bell was stuff the great teams only manage. The ABs knew they couldnt let one in there and did, and that spilled over into another after half time.

A great pressure period could have been more if sustained, but Kias right, the basics let them down, and I still think they should have kicked one of the penalties to get inside 14 points.

Great match and roll on the rest. Some were disappointing yesterday but a couple of upsets on the pile already with the way France and Argie won so convincingly.

Visser's were against the run of play, albeit well taken. It'd be nice to see him score tries in open play finishing off a promising Scottish backline move. There is still a lot of work to be done in that area. But the heart Scotland showed to summon up their strength when they looked out on their feet after the video ref ruled the lunge against the line was held up was a try of character. Those are the moments that you need to take in the important games and the memory of that effort will serve them well for the future.

I think it's abit patronising Kia. Scotland have aspirations to higher things than keeping NZ to "just" 50 points and getting a couple of tries against the run of play.

Scotlands defence suffered from the same ill as it did last time around; just standing off too long and giving NZ too much room to play in, and also, not trusting each other. The indecision this lead to just left too much space for NZ to roam in.

Even at 7-3 or 10-10 it never looked like NZ weren't capable of scoring 30 points in any given 10 minute spell.

Scotland will and should be frustrated and annoyed at leaking so many points again. They simply didn't show the commitment and heart that they do against England once a year. It's almost like losing in a non embarassing way is good enough, and they are better than that, as we saw when they tipped Australia over and swept the PIs last year.

I understand your point AWOP and agree with your sentiments. But given the last two times they faced NZ they didn't dominate anything except youtube for highlight videos, this was a more spirited effort. But yes it wasn't good enough and they have a lot to work on. But let's see what kind of performance they put in against SA next weekend.

Take out those silly errors and they would've scored points and saved many. Contrast that with Wales who lost by a narrower margin but looked abject for most of the game and I think Scotland rattled the ABs for periods of the game.

The intent of my post was not to say well done Scotland you shipped 50 points to NZ and kept our record unbeaten. It was whilst you lost, there are positives to take out of this and you can be competitive. So c´mon chins up and get stuck in next week.

Always an achievement when losing to the all blacks by less than 30.

kiakahaaotearoa wrote:

Take out those silly errors and they would've scored points and saved many.

Well, yes. But that's what it's all about, isn't it?

kiakahaaotearoa wrote:
Take out those silly errors and they would've scored points and saved many. Contrast that with Wales who lost by a narrower margin but looked abject for most of the game and I think Scotland rattled the ABs for periods of the game.

That sums it up for me, particularly before and after half time. NZ were on the receiving end of some classy rugby. As is typical maintaining those levels for 80 is always the issue and defensively and not using the large amount of ball was inevitably Scotlands downfall. DC was allowed to run because the inside defence was just to slow to front up.

Of course it is. But contrast that with the last test in 2010 where NZ broke the line at will without doing anything really of note. Just doing the basics well. That happened again today in part but it wasn't all one way traffic. That try in the dying moments of the first half was pure class and Scotland sucked in the defenders and struck. Where was that type of play in 2010?

You must concede that at least Scotland gave a sterner test of NZ and dominated the ABs in patches particularly in the second half. That didn't happen at all last time. I was critical of their errors and their defence like you say out wide needs a lot of work. But how many teams can create that space so easily? By the looks of what we saw this weekend, not too many.

Yeah, maybe Kia, but both Visser tries were really due to the kind of mistake NZ didn't make in 2010. Running it out from the line when you are down to 14 men? Or throwing an intecept pass when the opposition defense is blatantly 5 meteres offside ( they were, check the replay of where the Scottish defenders are standing when Weepu clears the ball from the ruck )?

Granted Scotland mounted some good phases, but last time out was a full strength AB side, this time the backrow was rearranged, the locks are new and the midfield was an experiment... I thought the AB defense held up very well given all of that.

Scotland have seemed to be the poor boys of the UK sides,they do often put up good performances without winning.There problem recently is they have`nt scored tries today they had three versus the best defence in World Rugby.
A fair start by the All Blacks 6 tries and a good game by DC maybe not as clinical as it could have been.But Hansen and co . will be fairly happy me thinks.

It wasn't a full strength AB side. SBW for one was a new player who admittedly had an amazing game. There were more changes this game undoubtedly but they still represented the ABs. It's not like the players who ended up playing didn't deserve to be playing in back. I think Vito and Thomson and Crockett for example had good games.

But this ABs side did make quite a few errors. But why does any side make errors mate? It comes through pressure and trying to force a game in which you have lost momentum. I think you're right about the offside but it was a pass that didn't need to be thrown. The kick through was the correct one if the line is up too fast.

I was impressed with our defence and that's why you need to give credit to Scotland for that try in the first half as we looked very solid in our line and apart from two tries from broken play we looked really resolute out there. The fact that Scotland broke our line in general play particularly in the second half deserves to be mentioned then.