Scots Impress But NZ Class Tells

“A moment of New Zealand magic denied Scotland a famous victory in a pulsating contest” at Edinburgh’s Murrayfield Stadium with the All Blacks narrowly winning 22-17, The Scotsman reports.

“With the game firmly in the balance, Sonny Bill Williams broke through the midfield before offloading to Damian McKenzie, who fed Beauden Barrett to maintain the All Blacks’ hold over Scotland,” journalist David Gunn writes for the newspaper.

“Stuart Hogg made a brilliant dart for the line in the dying moments but was tackled metres short to close out a brilliant performance from Gregor Townsend’s side.

“New Zealand have never lost to the Dark Blues, and that piece of history looked under threat after Jonny Gray’s try pulled the scores back to 15-10 at one point in the second half, but Barrett’s try put them out of sight despite Huw Jones giving the home crowd fresh hope.

“There was a real buzz around the ground prior to kick-off as the teams lined up for their respective anthems, and the atmosphere inspired the hosts to a fine start.

“The All Blacks grew stronger as the half wore on, and went into the break level as John Barclay went in off his feet at the breakdown and gave Barrett the chance to kick a simple three points from the 22 as a hard-fought first half came to a close with the sides level. For all their hard work in the first 40 minutes, Scotland were dealt a harsh blow at the start of the second half through some slack defence.”

On 12 November, New Zealand beat France in Paris 38-18 and the France XV in Lyon on 19 November 28-23.

New Zealand next plays Wales on 26 November in Cardiff, the final game of the 2017 Vista Northern Tour.

Original article by David Gunn, The Scotsman, November 18, 2017.

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