All Blacks leave it late to sink Scotland
By Mark Stevens
13/11/22
Scotland failed to end a 117-year wait for a first-ever win against New Zealand as the beleaguered All Blacks fought back to win a thriller at Murrayfield.
The tourists raced into a 14-0 lead after just seven minutes thanks to tries from Samisoni Taukei'aho and debutant Mark Telea.
But Scotland were level a mere seven minutes later when Exeter Chiefs full-back Stuart Hogg was taken out for a penalty try and Darcy Graham intercepted and raced in at the corner.
The returning Finn Russell added three penalties as Scotland made it 23 unanswered points, but they were made to rue some missed opportunities, and Jack Dempsey's sin-binning in the final quarter.
The All Blacks - who had been on the back foot for so much of the game - took full advantage as Scott Barrett crashed over and brother Jordie converted to give them the lead again, before Telea added his second to seal victory with five minutes left.
Post-game, Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend reflected on his side’s 31-23 loss, stating: "We're disappointed. There is so much to be proud of, but we didn't see it through.
"It was a show of resilience after going 14-0 down to one of the best teams in the world, but we didn't get the win. You don't get to play New Zealand very often and that's the best opportunity in our history we've had to beat them."
Townsend added that the loss ranked alongside the defeat by Japan which put his side out of the World Cup in 2019, and said some mistakes in the final quarter were costly.
"We scored 23 points to nil during a 50-minute period so those margins you have to kick on and win. You have to see out the win and we didn't do that," continued Townsend. "I felt our management of when to play and when to kick was excellent and our chase was outstanding, but we let them back in with a couple of errors."
Scotland legend Doddie Weir took the match ball out onto the field at Murrayfield to mark five years since his foundation to raise money for motor neurone disease research was set up. The former Lions lock did the same back in 2017 when it was launched after his diagnosis with the disease.
