Scotland face up to bleak truth as piece of history washed away by familiar tale against New Zealand

The All Blacks wore white but it was another gloomy day for the Scots whose winless streak in this fixture was extended to 34 games.

Speaking on the eve of the match, home captain Sione Tuipulotu had urged his team to “chase greatness” and stressed that this group wasn’t responsible for the 121 years of mostly grisly history against New Zealand.

But the bleak truth is that the Scots seem further away from the All Blacks now than had been the case in recent games between the sides.

Gregor Townsend’s side had run them close in 2017, 2022 and 2025 and they made a real fist of it in the first half on Saturday but New Zealand dominated after the break. Scotland failed to score a point in the second half and rarely threatened. There was one opportunity for Kyle Steyn but he fumbled a long, looped pass and the chance was gone.

Both teams attacked with gusto in the opening 40 minutes and it was thrilling stuff. Ashman, the home hooker, became the first Scotland player to score a hat-trick against the All Blacks and in doing so took his Test tally to 17 tries in 38 games. But Scotland couldn’t find a fourth try and missed out on a bonus point. In truth, Scotland left points out there in the first half. They played some great rugby but there was indiscipline and inaccuracy too.

New Zealand, by contrast, are purring under new coach Dave Rennie and had the bonus try in the bag in the 32nd minute. They scored seven tries in total, through Wallace Sititi, Ethan de Groot, Codie Taylor, Beauden Barrett (two), Josh Moorby and Asafo Aumua.

Scotland now need to beat Australia at Murrayfield next Sunday to get their Nations Championship campaign back on track.

The sombre preliminaries saw tributes paid to Ally Donaldson, a stalwart of Scottish rugby who died last month, and Logan Cadwallader, the All Blacks’ head of security who passed away this week at the team hotel. A special Haka followed before Commonwealth Games champion Josh Kerr delivered the match ball.

Kerr, whose brother Jake was capped by Scotland, wore the number 222 on his jersey, the number of seconds he took to break the world mile record which had stood for 27 years.

Both coaches had promised to attack and they stuck to their word. It took the All Blacks four minutes to score their first try and, from a Scottish point of view, it was too easy. They were caught offside and New Zealand kicked to the corner and then worked a smart lineout move which saw Sititi break through to score. The No 8 was raised in the Scotland while his father, Semo, was playing for the Borders and seemed to enjoy the moment.

Scotland hit straight back, with Kyle Rowe’s grubber taking them close to the New Zealand line. From the lineout, the home pack got their drive spot on and Ashman was able to plunder his first try of the afternoon. Russell’s conversion put the Scots 7-5 ahead.

The lead didn’t last long. Ben White was offering some superb defence, particularly when he held up Will Jordan on the line, but New Zealand took a quick penalty and Ethan de Groot ran the perfect line to crash over. Damian McKenzie converted.

It was as open as we hoped but Scotland were looking a bit loose and New Zealand scored the third try on the 20-minute mark. Jack Dempsey conceded a penalty and the visitors punished him, kicking to the corner and scoring off the lineout drive through captain Codie Taylor.

Scotland now trailed 17-7 and needed a route back into the game. They were helped by Kiwi indiscipline, with yellow cards in quick succession for Peter Lakai and Sititi. Very briefly, the tourists were down to 13 men.

Huw Jones looked like he had got over for a try but referee Andrew Brace thought otherwise and Scotland had to be patient. They got their second try in the 26th minute after some great open-field play. White gave Ashman the crash ball and the hooker burst through Sititi’s attempted tackle to score his second. Russell’s conversion cut the All Blacks’ lead to 17-14 but the 14 men came back strongly, with Beauden Barrett finishing as New Zealand created a four v three.

Scotland replaced Rory Sutherland with Pierre Schoeman and Sititi followed Lakai into the bin, with the latter returning soon after.

The Scots were now two scores behind but finished the half strongly, with Ashman completing a remarkable hat-trick. Jones had looked very lively indeed on his return to the team and New Zealand were struggling to deal with him. He burst through to take Scotland deep into enemy territory. Scotland won a penalty, kicked to the corner and Ashman scored from the lineout. Russell’s conversion made it a three-point game and it could have been even better for Scotland as they broke clear with the clock in red before Moorby hacked it into touch.

New Zealand run away with second half

After a pulsating first 40 minutes, New Zealand led 24-21 but they moved clear after the break. Two tries in three minutes left the Scots with a mountain to climb and they also seemed to be getting on the wrong side of referee Brice. Nothing was going their way and Moorby’s try in the 48th minute was simplicity itself. New Zealand won a scrum close to the Scottish line and Jordie Barrett flipped the ball wide for the winger to score.

Beauden Barrett then got his second of the match, finishing off a fine backs move from a lineout. In between, Tuipulotu was sent to the sin-bin for team infringements.

With New Zealand now 36-21 ahead, Scotland needed to roll the dice. Blair Kinghorn and Max Williamson had already come on and they were joined for the final 17 minutes by fellow subs George Horne, Tom Jordan and Josh Bayliss, who replaced White, Russell and Matt Fagerson respectively.

It made no material difference and and the All Blacks scored their final try of the day soon after, through replacement hooker Asafo Aumua.

Scotland 21-43 New Zealand teams and scorers

Scorers: Scotland: Tries: Ashman 3. Cons: Russell 3. New Zealand: Tries: Sititi, de Groot, Taylor, B Barrett 2, Moorby, Aumua. Cons: McKenzie 4.

Yellow cards: Lakai (NZ, 23min), Sititi (NZ, 33min); Tuipulotu (Sco, 50min)

Scotland: K Rowe (B Kinghorn 52); K Steyn, H Jones, S Tuipulotu (capt), J Dobie; F Russell (T Jordan 63), B White (G Horne 63); R Sutherland (P Schoeman 32), E Ashman (G Hiddleston 66), Z Fagerson (W Hurd 66), G Brown, S Cummings, M Fagerson (J Bayliss 63), R Darge, J Dempsey (M Williamson 52).

New Zealand: B Barrett; W Jordan (R Ioane 53), Q Tupaea, J Barrett (T Tavatavanawai 66), J Moorby; D McKenzie, C Roigard (C Ratima 60); E de Groot (G Bower 49), C Taylor (A Aumua 57), F Newell (P Tosi 63), S Barrett, F Holland, T Vaa'i (C Lio-Willie 71), P Lakai, W Sititi (A Segner 57).

Referee: Andrew Brace (IRFU).

Attendance: 67,144.