Scotland eye New Zealand rematch as more regular opportunities beckon for elusive first win

Saturday’s 25-17 victory over Townsend’s side at Murrayfield was the All Blacks' 31st in the 120-year history of a fixture which conjures up so many wonderful moments but never ends well for the Scots.

There have been a couple of draws, in 1964 and 1983, and for a long time it looked as if we might be about to witness a third after the home side fought back from 17-0 down to tie things up at 17-17 with a stirring second-half performance. But Damian McKenzie’s late try after his own brilliant 50-22 kick wrenched the game back into Kiwi hands.

It was a “gut-punch”, in the words of home captain Sione Tuipulotu, who knew this was a golden opportunity to bust the All Blacks hoodoo. Scotland were dominant in the third quarter but squandered chances and Tuipulotu had cause to regret a drop off in aggression as the half wore on.

The sides will meet again next year in the Nations Cup, a new Test-match league which will be played in the summer and autumn international windows and will pit the top teams from the northern hemisphere against their counterparts from the south.

It is a tournament designed to add a competitive context to the traditional Test matches in those windows and will culminate in a final in late November 2026 between the top side from each hemisphere and north v south play-offs matches between the rest.

‘We’d love to play New Zealand more regularly’

The Nations Cup will be played on a biennial basis in the years when there is no World Cup or Lions tour and Townsend is looking forward to a rematch with the All Blacks.

“We'd love to play New Zealand more regularly,” he said. “We will play next year in the new Nations Cup. So we just have to make the most of the opportunities.”

“Normally it would be South Africa and Australia next November [who Scotland would play],” added Townsend. “We always get a chance to play two of the southern hemisphere giants, but now we'll get to play them all over the next 12 months.”

This year’s autumn series is the last in its current guise and Scotland will host Argentina next Sunday and Tonga the following week. Townsend has seen the Pumas improve by playing against New Zealand regularly in the Rugby Championship, beating them in Buenos Aires in August and in Wellington last year, and thinks it will help Scotland to face the All Blacks more often.

“You get the benefits of playing these top teams,” he said. “Argentina showed that, Australia showed that, if you play them regularly, twice a year. Over the last few years we've toured Argentina a lot and not New Zealand.”

Given the nature of the latest defeat, Townsend could be excused for never wanting to see the All Blacks ever again. He has faced them three times as a head coach and on each occasion Scotland have had their hopes dashed late on raucous November evenings in Edinburgh. Throw in six losses as a player and you'd think he'd be sick of the sight of them.

At one point on Saturday it looked as if Scotland were about to stage one of the greatest comebacks of all time. Having conceded tries at the beginning and end of the first half to Cam Roigard and Will Jordan, the home side went in at the turn 17-0 behind. They came out all guns blazing in the second half and two tries in the space of four minutes from Ewan Ashman and Kyle Steyn had the visitors rocking.

“We had to change, we had to be more direct and the players did that in the second half and that requires a lot of effort and to clear those contacts, to get back up and carry again. and it got us rewards,” said Townsend. “It got penalties, it got scores, it got yellow cards [Leroy Carter, Ardie Savea and Wallace Sititi were all sin-binned].”

A story of missed chances...

Finn Russell, who converted both tries, added a penalty to make it 17-17 on 60 minutes but the reality is that Scotland had already failed to take a number of chances by that point. “Two in the first half, they were held up, and three in the second half, where we dropped the ball close to the line,” noted Townsend.

Rory Hutchinson, Darcy Graham, Ben White and Ashman all went close but it wasn’t to be.

New Zealand, who only had one chance in the second half, were not so profligate. McKenzie, who turned the game back in the All Blacks’ favour with his 50-22, then finished with great dexterity when the opportunity fell his way, twisting over the line in the south-east corner of Murrayfield as Blair Kinghorn and George Turner tried in vain to force him into touch.

He was only on the field for 36 minutes but McKenzie walked off with the player of the match medal and deservedly so. He added a long-range penalty with two minutes to go, applying salt to Scotland’s metaphorical wounds.

There were plenty of real ones too, with players from both sides leaving the field bloodied and bruised. It was a hugely physical match. Russell had his knee heavily strapped following a thumping tackle from Caleb Clarke in the first half. The stand-off then injured his ankle and came off with five minutes remaining.

Townsend is hopeful Russell will be fit for next week but the game against Argentina is likely to come too soon for Zander Fagerson, with Townsend earmarking the Tonga game on November 23 for the prop’s comeback after seven months out with calf and knee injuries.

In Fagerson’s absence, D’arcy Rae stood up impressively against the All Blacks in what was only his second start for Scotland. The Edinburgh tighthead gave as good as he got and Townsend felt his team just shaded the scrum battle. “I thought he was very good,” said the coach.

Unfortunately for the home team, all the hard work, the stirring fightback and the massive physical effort, were not quite enough.

As the great New Zealand fly-half Beauden Barrett remarked at full-time: “It wasn't an ideal second half for us but we found a way.” Against Scotland, they always do.

Scorers: Scotland: Tries: Ashman, Steyn. Cons: Russell 2. Pen: Russell.

New Zealand: Tries: Roigard, Jordan, McKenzie. Cons: B Barrett 2. Pens: B Barrett, McKenzie.

Yellow cards: L Carter (NZ, 33min), A Savea (NZ, 46min), W Sititi (NZ, 61min)

Scotland: B Kinghorn; D Graham, R Hutchinson, S Tuipulotu, K Steyn; F Russell (T Jordan 75), B White (J Dobie 54); P Schoeman (R Sutherland 54-67, 78-80), E Ashman (G Turner 54), D Rae (E Millar Mills 54), G Gilchrist (M Sykes 64), S Cummings, G Brown, M Fagerson (R Darge 61), J Dempsey (J Bayliss 65).

New Zealand: W Jordan; L Carter (B Proctor 65), L Fainga'anuku, Q Tupaea, C Clarke (D McKenzie 45); B Barrett, C Roigard; E de Groot (T Williams 27-39), C Taylor (S Taukei'aho 57), F Newell (P Tosi 54), J Lord (S Darry 61), F Holland, W Sititi (D Kirifi 72), A Savea, P Lakai. Replacement not used: C Ratima.

Referee: Nic Berry (Aus).

Attendance: 67,000.