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Brave Scotland almost topple All Blacks
By Online Editors
Scotland came out firing today at Murrayfield, putting together one of their best performances of recent years despite losing to the All Blacks 22-17.
The big talking point of the first half was a call by referee Matthew Carly to not yellow card All Black winger Waisake Naholo for a tackle on Scottish fullback Stuart Hogg. Naholo clearly took Hogg out in the air, however Carly was satisfied that the winger was impeded by Ali Price in the lead up.
A penalty each was all the scoring in the first half, however it could've been more if either side was more accurate in their set piece. The All Blacks were gifted a 5m scrum off a Lee Jones mistake, however couldn't make the Scots pay. The home side had their own chance off a lineout close to the All Black line, but again were let down by a forward pass.
Codie Taylor finally broke the deadlock with a try, thanks to the skill of Rieko Ioane. The two combined twice in the movement that originally started with an Aaron Smith kick, with the hooker eventually scoring in the corner.
Damian McKenzie scored shortly after off a beautiful kick through by Sonny Bill Williams. However, Scottish lock Johnny Gray powered his way over to send the crowd into a frenzy, setting up a tense last 15 minutes.
All Black discipline fell apart in the latter stages, two yellow cards to Sam Cane and Wyatt Crockett put them under undue pressure. However, Beauden Barrett managed to score a stunning set piece try while the side was down to 14 men.
Huw Jones drew the Scots up to 22-17 in the 77th minute with a beautiful try that was set up by Stuart Hogg, and then the home side desperately tried to find the winner in the dying stages.
Hogg then made a bust into the 22, but his final pass was forward, which ended the game for a relieved All Black side.
The All Blacks now travel to Cardiff next week for their last game of the year against Wales.
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Latest Comments
Hi Nick. Thanks for your +++ ongoing analysis. Re Vunivalu, He’s been benched recently and it will be interesting to see what Kiss does with him as we enter the backend of SRP. I’m still not sold.
Go to commentsIn the fine tradition of Irish rugby, Leinster cheat well and for some reason only known to whoever referees them, they are allowed to get away with it every single game. If teams have not got the physicality up front to stop them getting the ball, they will win every single game. They take out players beyond the ruck and often hold them on the ground. Those that are beyond the ruck and therefore offside, hover there to cause distraction but also to join the next ruck from the side thereby stopping the jackal. The lineout prior to the second try on Saturday. 3 Leinster players left the lineout before the ball was thrown and were driving the maul as soon as the player hit the ground and thereby getting that valuable momentum. They scrummage illegally, with the looshead turning in to stop the opposing tighthead from pushing straight and making it uncomfortable for the hooker. The tighthead takes a step and tries to get his opposite loosehead to drop the bind. Flankers often ‘move up’ and actually bind on the prop and not remain bound to the second row. It does cause chaos and is done quickly and efficiently so that referees are blinded by the illegal tactics. I am surprised opposition coaches when they meet referees before games don’t mention it. I am also surprised that they do not go to the referees group and ask them to look at the tactics used and referee them properly. If they are the better team and win, fair play but a lot of their momentum is gained illegally and therefore it is not a level playing field.
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