All Blacks dominate Scotland at Murrayfield
The All Blacks opened their European tour with a dominant 51-22 win over Scotland at Murrayfield on Monday (NZT).
The win, their 27th in 29 encounters, didn't come easy as Scotland applied the early pressure and benefitted through a try to wing Tim Visser, before the All Blacks eventually found their feet and the means of scoring four first-half tries for a 34-17 lead at the break.
Julian Savea capitalised on his strong carries with two tries - his first a crucial score that kicked the All Blacks 10 points clear after being tied at 10-all.
The Scots would not conceded defeat without a fight and a try to Geoff Cross on the stroke of halftime provided some hope.
After the break Visser became just the second Scot to score a double against New Zealand after Adam Thompson was sin binned for rucking the head of Scots blindside Alasdair Strokosch.
However, they were outmatched for class as Dan Carter, in a man-of-the-match performance, slotted all but one of his nine kicks at goal including the conversions of a late try to Ben Smith as the All Blacks ran away by a convincing margin.
Though Carter's first penalty, awarded after just 47 seconds, awarded the All Blacks the fast start they had talked about all week, they followed up with a number of uncharacteristic errors - four in the opening eight minutes including a stolen first-up lineout.
Scotland's rushing defence caused two of the early mistakes but the All Blacks did well to counter with short passes at the gain line. However, the tactic was eventually decoded by the Scots and when Matt Scott swooped on Carter's pass, a receiving Visser stormed 30 metres to score in the 12th minute.
Carter responded to his early mistake with some deft touches deep inside Scots territory. Stepping inside the fast-approaching defence, he broke through then handed on to Dagg to draw level at 10-all.
Minutes after Carter slotted his second penalty of the afternoon, Victor Vito re-entered the attacking zone with a promising break down the right-hand touchline. The ball was neatly worked across to the opposite side where Savea found himself in enough space to slide over for a converted try in the 32nd minute.
Scotland only made things more difficult for themselves when they were deemed to be in front at the ensuing kick-off. With the subsequent field position, the All Blacks again caught the defence short, this time with a series of six passes that allowed Corey Jane to extend the lead to 27-10 with his try.
With the wind well and truly in their sails, New Zealand wasted no time in exploiting the deflated Scots, and the gaping holes in their defence, with a break down the blindside where Andrew Hore muscled his way over the chalk for his eighth Test try.
The fiery Scots refused to concede the half without a fight and after they had an apparent try denied, they did eventually cross the line through prop Geoff Cross.
After the break, New Zealand suffered the loss of Adam Thompson to the sin bin. The blow was doubled when Visser dotted down again after the All Blacks lost possession when running out of their own 22.
The turn of the third quarter marked the debuts of halfback Tawera Kerr-Barlow and hooker Dane Coles. Within second the pair was involved in their first Test try celebrations when Savea latched onto Carter's cross-field kick then beat two defenders to score.
Ben Smith collected his second Test try in the final moments of play before Carter got New Zealand past the half-century mark with his sixth conversion.
Scotland 22 (Tim Visser 2, Geoff Cross tries; Grieg Laidlaw pen, 2 con)
New Zealand 51 (Julian Savea 2, Israel Dagg, Corey Jane, Andrew Hore, Ben Smith tries; Dan Carter 3 pen, 6 con)
HT: 34-17
