Scotland v All Blacks: Winners and losers as ‘gravity-defying’ Damian McKenzie get rugby’s ‘organised crime syndicate’ out of jail
Damian McKenzie scores the try that rescued New Zealand in a match that left Scotland's Darcy Graham, inset, with regrets
Following the All Blacks’ 25-17 victory over Scotland at Murrayfield, here’s our key winners and losers from the Autumn Nations Series meeting in Edinburgh.
Winners
Damian McKenzie
The 30-year-old is frequently the butt of criticism when New Zealand fans assess his contributions, but he was supreme in this get-out-of-jail victory. The Kiwis were just coming under the pump when introduced early in the second half, and the legacy of his involvement in the passage that ended with the scores deadlocked at 17-all was a bloody face and jersey.
However, when it mattered most, he spectacularly came up trumps, executing a delicious 50/22 to allow his team to secure the territory and build the pressure that eventually culminated in his amazing, gravity-defying, one-handed finish in the corner. He then had the pluck to kick the penalty from miles out that pierced the Murrayfield jungle atmosphere and left the All Blacks winners.
Gregor Brown
The raw back five forward hasn’t played all that much rugby yet in his career with Glasgow, but the 24-year-old again highlighted he is quickly becoming a real Test-level deal with the way he got stuck in against the All Blacks.
He topped his team’s tackle count with Sione Tuipulotu with his energetic effort, helping to ensure his team stayed alive when it seemed as if they would roll over in the first half.
He also assisted in a reliable lineout operation and can feel immensely pleased that his involvement in the early second-half maul try was the firework that ignited Scotland and had the Kiwis creaking. A class act.
Kudos too for Jack Dempsey, the back-rower who kept on trucking when the Scots looked like they could collapse, with Blair Kinghorn the pick of their backs.
Peter Lakai
After being glued to the first half we were all set to sing the praises of Wallace Sititi, the 23-year-old who was last year crowned World Rugby’s men’s young player of the year. Despite knee and ankle issues this year, his opening half against the Scots, now that he is fully fit and firing, was relentless.
Sititi made a chart-topping 10 carries, including that sumptuous show of wheels where he left Darcy Graham for dead and gave Will Jordan the try assist. But he was also excellent on defence, with one hold-up over the try line particularly eye-catching.
However, his needless yellow card on 61 minutes for a deliberate knock-on blotted his gold starred copybook and had us appreciating all the more the efforts of Lakai, his fellow back-rower.
His contribution on both sides of the ball throughout was excellent, but it was his tackling that stood out amid the Scottish fightback. Without him, Josh Lord and Fabian Holland standing up and being counted, the outcome could have been a historic first-ever Scotland win over the All Blacks.
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Scottish defence
Scotland have never beaten the All Blacks but with their three most recent defeats coming by single-digit margins, there was great hope that the methods of the departed Steve Tandy would crossover with Lee Radford now at the wheel in that department.
There would have been concern that they were breached within just four minutes with Cam Roigard scoring for New Zealand, but the Scots’ determination to put in a shift and make a real fist of it was obvious, none more so than in the passage of play defending their line 20-plus minutes in the game.
It was a perfect example of how on-field exploits can make a crowd invest in what you are doing, and Scotland’s defence definitely did that with the defiant way they defended their line at that time.
They did go on to reach the break 0-17 behind, but the defence didn’t completely fold, and it allowed them to go on and ignite that memorable second-half comeback. In the end, it was another single-digit defeat, but it could have been way worse but for the refusal to totally bend.
Losers
All Blacks indiscipline
It was last August when one Kiwi journalist took a match to the powder keg that is New Zealand’s indiscipline, claiming that they were rugby’s ‘organised crime syndicate’ for their naughty behaviour on the pitch and their dealings with referees.
The colourful description gained huge traction and ignited great debate, but those who were inclined to defend Scott Robertson’s men at that time won’t have a leg to stand on after what unfolded in Murrayfield.
Three yellow cards they copped, a toxic total for a team looking to gain kudos from around the world on a Grand Slam tour that began with last weekend’s win over Ireland in Chicago.
The first-half yellow brandished to Leroy Carter for his silly trip on Darcy Graham didn’t hurt as Jordan struck in that man-down window to push the margin to 17-0.
However, the reaction after Ardie Savea’s sin-binning for a maul collapse was awful. Panic set in and the Kiwis were dangling on the ropes. It was a deliberate knock-on that then did for Sititi on the hour with the scores locked at 17-all. Collectively, the card hat-trick was dire. A terrible look for the All Blacks’ image.
Gregor Townsend
They were at it again in Scotland this past week, talking themselves up but ultimately failing to fully walk that talk on the pitch. The consensus was that “we definitely can win” but despite a rousing comeback that will live long in the memory, they trooped off at the finish beaten and clutching yet another moral victory.
Those types of ‘wins’ are two a penny in the Gregor Townsend era, and Saturday’s outcome only added more fuel to the fire that he isn’t the man to get this Scottish team fully fulfilling its potential. There have been too many near misses on his watch and this was painfully another.
Darcy Graham
We love it how this small fella packs such a gigantic punch in the Test arena but November 8 in Edinburgh wasn’t his finest hour. It wasn’t that he played poorly; he was involved in plenty of good moments.
However, he was negatively at the heart of two moments that played a huge part in this Scotland loss. Graham was left for dead by the try-creating Sititi break near the end of the opening half and was then mugged by Cam Roigard when trying to ground in the corner to score on 56 minutes. Those moments were costly.
Too long TMO reviews
Rookie New Zealand winger Carter did not need to make the trip that he was yellow-carded for on 33 minutes. There was plenty of cover in behind, and it was a silly action. The seriousness of what he did seemed to escape him as he didn’t initially realise that he was getting sin-binned.
Then again, the length of time it took the dithering Nic Berry to reach his decision would have resulted in anyone losing their train of thought. As was the case earlier in the day in Dublin when Jacob Stockdale was carded for Ireland, these TMO reviews are taking way, way too long.
World Rugby ad nauseum rattle on about speeding up the game, yet their referees keep slowing it down with their drawn-out review process. It keeps taking away from the spectacle and is only annoying fans, not enlightening them.