Impressive: New Zealand
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New Zealand got their November Test series off to a great start as they beat Scotland in a 51-22 victory on Sunday.
In spells it was a performance that showed once again why the All Blacks are considered the finest exponents of attacking rugby in the game. It also backed up the importance of all players - from 1 to 15 - being comfortable in any position as forward duo Luke Romano and Wyatt Crockett proved.
New Zealand's ability to shift the point of attack with consummate ease was a constant issue for the Scots who, despite scoring the most points against the All Blacks since their defeat against Australia back in August 2011, came off second best to an effort that looks ominous to other rivals.
Tries were scored by Israel Dagg, Julian Savea (2), Cory Jane, Andrew Hore and Ben Smith but it was Dan Carter who claimed the man-of-the-match gong after directing the traffic in another showing that further rose his lofty standards.
Scotland will no doubt take some positives out of the fixture though, one being wing Tim Visser's brace that keeps his fine try-scoring rate at an impressive level. They will need him to carry that on to next week's clash with South Africa.
New Zealand started the game strongly until Scotland inside centre Matt Scott intercepted a Carter pass before handing over to speedster Visser, who was supporting well on his shoulder. The conversion from Greig Laidlaw made it 3-7 with 12 minutes on the clock.
Carter then made up for his embarrassing error as he slipped through the Scottish net to put full-back Israel Dagg in for a score. Carter's solid extras made it 10-7 at Murrayfield.
The kickers traded shots at goal soon after before the All Blacks found their rhythm as quick-fire tries from Savea, who went in at one corner and Jane's exceptional team effort - that saw the aforementioned prop Crockett and lock Romano involved - was a delight to watch.
Veteran hooker Hore then powered his way over from close range and almost in the blink of an eye, New Zealand led 34-10, with things looking bleak for the hosts. They did perk up before the break as after Scott was held up over the line, prop Geoff Cross burrowed over.
A moment that New Zealand flank Adam Thomson may live to regret then saw him shown yellow on 44 minutes for standing on the head of a Scottish player at a ruck and when Visser crossed for his second score, the hosts looked to be finding some confidence.
But the All Blacks showed why they are world champions in the closing stages as Carter set up two more scores, with Savea collecting a cross-field kick and then with five minutes to go the fly-half shrugged off a tackle, stepped and set up Ben Smith for a deserved score.
Man of the match: The phrase Perfect 10 seems to get thrown around a little too much in rugby, but with Dan Carter it consistently is attached. He created, broke the line, fended back-row forwards and kicked strongly all game. To be honest, no one else came close.
Moment of the match: Cory Jane's try was one to rewind over and over again. Piri Weepu started it before Wyatt Crockett was calm in possession and then Luke Romano's quick hands created the space outside. If there was an advert for All Black rugby, it would be on it.
Villain of the match: It was going to go to the Scottish fans who were booing while Dan Carter was lining up his kicks. However, Adam Thomson then went and did something he may regret as video footage showed him trampling on the head of a home player at a ruck.
The scorers:
For Scotland:
Tries: Visser 2, Cross
Con: Laidlaw 2
Pen: Laidlaw
For New Zealand:
Tries: Dagg, Savea 2, Jane, Hore, Smith
Con: Carter 6
Pen: Carter 3
Scotland: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Sean Lamont, 13 Nick De Luca, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Greig Laidlaw, 9 Mike Blair, 8 Kelly Brown, 7 Ross Rennie, 6 Alasdair Strokosch, 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Geoff Cross, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Ryan Grant.
Replacements: 16 Scott Lawson, 17 Allan Jacobsen, 18 Kyle Traynor, 19 Alastair Kellock, 20 David Denton, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Ruaridh Jackson, 23 Max Evans.
New Zealand: 15 Israel Dagg, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Ben Smith, 12 Tamati Ellison, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Daniel Carter, 9 Piri Weepu, 8 Victor Vito, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 Adam Thomson, 5 Sam Whitelock, 4 Luke Romano, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Wyatt Crockett
Replacements: 16 Dane Coles, 17 Tony Woodcock, 18 Ben Franks, 19 Ali Williams, 20 Sam Cane, 21 Tawera Kerr Barlow, 22 Beauden Barrett, 23 Ma'a Nonu.
Referee: Jerome Garces (France)
Assistant referees: Pascal Gauzere (France) and Simon McDowell (Ireland)
Television match official: Graham Hughes (England)
By Adam Kyriacou
@PlanetRugbyAK
Comments
Tony says...
Trinats, slightly better than all those kiwi born Aussies did against France. What a hiding!
Posted 10:16 12th November 2012
powerplay says...
@cuw3100
This is just from the All Blacks team that was selected to play against Scotland, (Izzy dagg, Cory Jane, Julian Savea, Ben Smith, Tamati Elison, Victor Vito, Ma'a Nonu, Adam Thomson, Beauden Barrett) More than half the team,and this is not even mentioning preisou players a la, the worlds most famous player Jonah Lomu, not to mention guys like, Mills Muliaina, Christian Cullen, etc, etc...the list just goes on and on...
KAPPELANGE has a great point indeed!
And I too echo his question!
NZ has definitely used their 7s team to feed into the ABS! The greatest All Black selector ever, is 7s coach Gordon Tietjens! Legend!
Posted 10:15 12th November 2012
spam says...
In reply to the 2 Scottish "lucky" scores from mistakes.
1. The first was a result of good line speed and defensive pressure (NZ mistake but forced by Scotland)
2. Was created by good counter-rucking from Scotland which forced the ball to pop out. So again NZ mistake but due to pressure from Scotland. Also prior to this try Scotland had been attacking the NZ line for some time (you don't just luck into good field position)
Would you count NZ scores from Scotland mistakes (missed tackles) as lucky or undeserved? No.
Overall NZ were awesome, a pleasure to watch, and would have beaten anyone playing like that. Scotland - good in places but defense needs work!
Posted 10:06 12th November 2012
golden_statenba says...
@Trinats2
Very well. He has a killer step and finds gaps that just aren't there
I think he went a little better then his country of birth
Posted 10:05 12th November 2012
Trinats2 says...
Didn't see the game, how did the Aussie born Tawera Kerr Barlow go ?
Posted 09:39 12th November 2012
GCP_jones says...
Very Enjoyable game, the All Blacks are just a joy to watch, 1 to 15 all good on the ball, Romano's pick-up from his boot laces one of the many examples.With Dan carter playing so well they have a 3 man advantage superb.
Credit to Scotland they got stuck in, they have a very impressive pack, with their 2 props fantastic on the ball, if they shore up their defence, and play at that level they will beat the Boks on Saturday afternoon.
Posted 09:38 12th November 2012
StunTheMullet says...
cuw3100 - Wishful thinking - Visser scored off two mistakes - an intercept and another AB mistake where ball was kicked out of a ruck near the try line.
Posted 09:20 12th November 2012
golden_statenba says...
@cuw3100
Both pretty open tries. One set up by an intercept. The other from a messy ruck. Ball popped out of the all blacks ruck open lane to the try line.
He has speed I will give him that from what I saw he is not so much a crash and bash player. He got hammerd a few times trying to run over players.
Good prospect for Scotland tho and will give the other teams in the 6 nations a few probs
Posted 08:59 12th November 2012
ruckingkiwi says...
cuw3100 , what he means is that NZ sevens develop young guys who go onto ITM or Super rugby contracts and possibly to higher honours from there. Its widely recognised as a very successful system. And no, they're all relatively the same size give or take a few kgs. Not sure what your point is mate?
Posted 08:50 12th November 2012
jonesy2 says...
i dont think i have ever seen a rugby player play a better game than the one dan carter did, if there has been a better performance from someone it was probably dan carter in 05 against the lions. there are no words to describe that man. julian savea hardly got the ball but when he did he looked unstoppable, cory jane is simply unbelievable under the high ball, was angry that sam cane didnt get on. hope izzy is ok.
scotland were spirited and very positive, couple of very lucky tries but they still got them. they may shock south africa if the boks dont defend well.
ps.thommo didnt "trample" on anyone, he placed his foot on a guy who was lying all over the ball on the bottom of the ruck because he couldnt get it with his hands, silly yes, but nothing in it at all. maybe he should have driven an elbow into the guys head trying to knock him out, evidently that seems to be more acceptable.
Posted 07:55 12th November 2012
Isograford says...
@atg77 You're going to take 'a lot' out of scoring three tries against the AB's when only one was genuinely created from Scottish play? The other two we're basically coughed up mistakes from the AB's with no defence in front of them.
I can't imagine a team like England taking any heart from getting 50 put on them just because they scored one good team try and lucked into a couple others. Probably why Scotland usually go home with Wooden Spoons.
Posted 07:46 12th November 2012
Johnny_Guitar says...
NZ just play simple rugby, very very well. Heads up rugby. At every attacking ruck they cleared the Scots out so effectively this creating great ball. On the flip side Scotlands rucks were constantly being disrupted. A certain Mr.Carter also helps!
They will take some stopping but England will give them a game. I thought we looked good this weekend but Australia will be out first big test.
Posted 07:15 12th November 2012
kpe12 says...
Watched the game and was not all that impressed with the AB's. How much room did Scotland give them at times. Carter had very little direct pressure on him.
Although Carter did put in a man of the match performance he also gave away 2 of the tries through direct mistakes, luckily he can shake mistakes off and make up for them.
Vito ran well for 45 mins, as usual Richie was everywhere, I did see a few slipped and missed tackles and they didn't really spoil ruck ball like they do other top tier nations.
I look forward to seeing Conrad and Keiran back soon, they make a huge impact on this current ABs team.
Posted 07:01 12th November 2012
Snewt says...
One thing not mentioned was the terrific jersey that Scotland wore. Very classy and clearly belonging to only one team. I am well aware of the home team wears white policy when the ABs play Scotland and who can forget the RWC debacle of 5 years ago, but maybe this new strip can replace the need for white in future?
All we need now is France, England and Wales to get over their black infatuation and the better the game will be.
Posted 06:56 12th November 2012
three6three6 says...
Scotland played well..... feeding off the few mistakes that the ABs made. Dan Carter was simply outstanding back to his best with ball in hand. Great goal kicking as well. Thomson showed poor judgement.... unfortunately, he is likely to be banned (tour over for him?)
The Bokke could be beaten again at Murrayfield. Remember 2010 when Scotland were beaten by a record margin (by the ABs) and then the following weekend Scotland humbled the mighty Bokke with Dan Parks kicking 21 points. Well this team might cause the 'limited' Bokke some problems.
Posted 04:07 12th November 2012
cuw3100 says...
missed it :(
how did Visser score? like did he run over Jane or was it just a case of being in space?
am i the only one or does anyone else think all these MIB have grown bigger in the last few years?
look at DC for example.. he looks more buff and ripped than a few seasons ago! i can only think of Mils who stayed "average size" throughout his AB career.
Now it seems all these guys are over 100kg (i may be wrong), with a few exceptions like Dagg and Jane.
Posted 03:48 12th November 2012
cuw3100 says...
" @ kappelange says...
Why dont other nations also develop their internationals through 7's rugby? NZ actually use theirs as a stepping stone to the AB's, all others just use it as a sideshow. "
not sure what ur point is mate?
how many recent MIB have been 7s players?
i think Jared Hoeata played a season in the 7s if i'm not mistaken. Mesam too played some time back i think. Vito am not sure.
someone more familiar with both sides can enlighten please, or PR it self.
the fact as far as i know is the 7s circuit is so demanding that those 10 - 12 guys hardly play anything else, maybe a few ITM games but that is it.
i may be wrong but never seen D J Forbes or Frank Halai ot Tomasi Cama or Bryce heem (to name a few ) in super rugby.
but of course there are players who have been in the 7s squad then turning out for 15 a side like Declan O'donnell
Posted 03:33 12th November 2012
hayj05 says...
I think the positives for Scotland were the fact that they ran hard & were able to retain posession & build phases when closing in on the line. Not the fact that they scored 3 tries, 1 was from an intercept, & 1 was from a ball kicked out of the ruck. The other was good ball retention but it did take them 5 minutes to cross the line from 2 metres out. Still evident that they need to learn how to manipulate defenses.
The negatives were the constant amatuer mistakes that plagued their attacking cause & obviously their standoffish defense. They certainly did impress me in patches & were admirable in their resolve when fallling 34 - 10 behind. I honestly think they have a lot of potential & have some very good players, they're certainly not caveman as some dickhead NZ journalist put it.
& what a bout Visser, a Dutchman who is playing his first test against the AB's & scores 2 walk-in tries. He'll be wondering what all the fuss is about lol.
Oh & a special mention for DC, one of the most complete Rugby players of all-time. It amazes me that people have the nerve to call him overrated, most likely the same people that thought Cooper overtook Cater as the best 10 last year, you know... the ones that only notice the flashy sidesteps & mecurial passing.
Take away DC's silky skills, his feet & deception, his passing, his kicking, his tackling, & he'd still be the best decision maker/reader of the game. Yes I realise he threw an intercept...
Posted 03:13 12th November 2012
atg77 says...
As a Scotland fan, I'm not sure what to make of this. To score three tries against the All Blacks was something we can take alot out of, but our defence was absolutely woeful. All Blacks or not, there's no excuse for professional players missing simple first up tackles (more than 14, then I lost count). Having said that, going into the autumn tests cold turkey against the ABs was always going to be a mountain to climb. I'm not going to get too down about the scoreline, remembering that the much over-trumpeted Argentinians shipped a bigger losing margin at home to the ABs in the RC. On the contrary, its probably the perfect warm up for the Boks, who I beleive Scotland will once again defeat. Remember in 2010 (a much weaker) Scotland lost to the ABs 3-49 one week, only to bounce back and beat South Africa.
Posted 00:51 12th November 2012
LondonWasp says...
the really worrying thing is that NZ are only going to get better in this tour, so by the time they play England they are going to be unstoppable.
Posted 23:50 11th November 2012