The general consensus following the defeat to New Zealand yesterday is that Scotland can walk away with their heads held high. Yes, they are the first team this year to score 3 tries against the All Blacks, and yes, they surpassed their total achieved the last time the teams met by 19 points. But to lose by 29 points at home reflects the often massive gulf in skill sets and ability to take chances.
Scotland came away from this years 6 Nations tournament with little other than a renewed reputation for keeping the ball in hand and offloading. David Denton was the tournament's biggest carrier and Scotland offloaded more than any other team but all too often to no effect.
At Murrayfield yesterday afternoon, they managed one single offload. That is partly down to a clear tactic employed by coach Andy Robinson to keep it tight against the a competitive forward pack led by Richie McCaw, but it also shows a little lack of endeavour, particularly when the team were 20 points down and had nothing really to lose.
Compare that single offload to the 14 that the All Blacks completed and you start to see why and where they found the holes. All the New Zealanders were at it, when the second half saw front rowers mixing it in the back line with the speedsters.
Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of the Scot's game was the missed tackle. According to Opta, Scotland made 71 tackles but missed 21. That's almost a quarter (23%) of their tackles missed. Again, compare that to New Zealand who completed 114 but missed only 11 (9%) and you start to see the difference.
Scotland were aggressive, and their line speed in defence was good, and even proved fruitful as the blitz defence saw Matt Scott intercept Dan Carter's pass, leading to Tim Visser's first try. But all too often, and increasingly so as the match went on, Scotland fell off the tackles.
Tim Visser dots down for his first try against the All Blacks
Watching the game back, it is clear to see a reluctance from the All Black back line to move laterally, every player makes an effort to straighten the run and commit the defender before offloading. The simple initial step to change direction baffled the Scottish defence throughout. The passing out to the left which led to Julian Savea's first try was the perfect example, never did the All Blacks backs drift and squeeze out their winger.
The tight defence set up by Scotland was also undone in the second half when Dan Carter bypassed all of his backs and the Scottish defence by kicking cross field with the most glorious of punts to find Savea again who glided past Stuart Hogg to complete his brace. Scotland simply didn't see it coming.
I'm not trying to be hard on Scotland. They started well, and competed gamely. The introduction of David Denton following Ross Rennie's departure after he dislocated his shoulder would have telling effect. Although coming on just as New Zealand entered their purple patch in the run up to half time, Denton squared up to Richie McCaw and more than held his own, ultimately getting one over on the All Black captain as he barrelled him over at the end of the first half as Scotland lay siege to the visitors' line.
Possession was split evenly, and Scotland ended up with 57% of the ball, hence the high All Black tackle count. And although Scotland have found a man in Tim Visser that has the ability to finish off more of the moves that Scotland so often develop, it still wasn't as ruthless or opportunistic a display as the All Blacks.
Dan Carter was sublime at times in the match, orchestrating his backs effortlessly, and setting up three of the 6 All Black tries, two from clean line breaks and one from the boot. He also managed 9 from 10 kicks for good measure. As the all time points leader in international rugby, it is easy to think of him as a metronomic kicker, but his display yesterday outlined that he is the complete player. With a try scoring record of almost 1 in every 3 games (29 from 93 caps), it is easy to see that he has everything in his game - a very well deserved man of the match.
Dan Carter was in sublime form against Scotland
Scotland can indeed walk away from the game pleased with some elements of their display, and certainly with nothing to fear against South Africa next week, but they will have to realise that there is a lot of work to do in the tight 6 day turnaround. I think the tackle bags will be out this week.
