This was one of the most anticipated games for Scotland as they have never beaten New Zealand. Scotland was motivated as they have won the last three games, also beaten Australia back in June. Scotland was supported by 67,000 supporters at Murrayfield.
However, Dan Carter, who earned his 93rd international cap for New Zealand, showed them from the beginning in what direction the game will go and put his team on the scoreboard right after the first attack. However, Scotland wing Visser scored two tries right after and put Scotland into the lead. New Zealand and Carter had to work hard to comeback. Again, it was Carter who attacked the Scottish defence with an great dummy before offloading to Israel Dagg to convert New Zealand’s first try. Scotland and New Zealand seemed level in the first half, but when Savea converted New Zealand’s second try, Scotland found themselves down by 10 points. The game was nearly finished after New Zealand converted 3 tries in 8 minutes.
Without a doubt, Carter was the man of the match. He was involved 3 of the 6 tries. The victory means that Scotland has not beaten New Zealand in 107 years. However, Scotland can be proud of the efforts and also was the only side that scored 3 tries against the All Blacks.
The next test will be South Africa on November 16th and Tonga on November 24th.
Line-up:
Scotland : 15- Hogg, 14- Lamont, 13- De Luca, 12- Scott, 11- Visser, 10- Laidlaw, 9- Blair; 1- Grant, 2- Ford, 3- Cross, 4- Gray, 5- Hamilton, 6- Strokosch, 7- Rennie, 8- Brown (C)
Replacements: 16- Lawson (for Ford, 65), 17- Jacobsen (for Grant, 67), 19- Kellock (for Hamilton, 58) 20- Denton (for Rennie, 19), 21- Pyrgos (for Blair, 75), 22- Jackson (for Laidlaw, 67), 23- Evans (for De Luca, 65). Not used: 18- Traynor.
New Zealand : 15- Dagg, 14- Jane, 13- Smith, 12- Ellison, 11- Savea, 10- Carter, 9- Weepu; 1- Crockett, 2- Hore, 3- Franks, 4- Romano, 5- Whitelock, 6- Thomson, 7- McCaw (C), 8- Vito
Replacements: 16- Coles (for Hore, 62), 17- Woodcock (for Crockett, 72), 18- B Franks (for O Franks, 62)), 19- Williams (for Whitelock, 67), 20- Cane, 21- Kerr-Barlow (for Weepu, 62), 22- Barrett (for Dagg, 26). Not Used: 20- Cane, 23 – Nonu.
Sin Bin: Thomson (44).
