mens
nations-championship
A deflated Gregor Townsend admitted Scotland fell short of his expectations as they fell to a demoralizing 43-21 Nations Championship defeat at home to an emotionally charged New Zealand.
The Scots sensed a chance to get their first win over the team All black people as, despite not being at their best, they trailed by just three points, 24-21, at the end of a thrilling seven-try first half.
Wallace Sititi, Ethan de Groot, Peter Lakai and Beuden Barrett all scored before the break for the visitors, who lost both Lakai and Sititi to yellow cards in the first half, while Ewan Ashman became the first Scotland player to score a hat-trick in this match.
But the hosts were completely shut out after the break as Josh Moorby and Barrett scored either side of a 51st-minute yellow card for Sione Tuipulota before Asafo Aumua sealed a comfortable victory for Dave Rennie’s side at the end of a week in which they mourned the death of their popular safety boss Logan Cawall.
“Obviously I’m disappointed we didn’t put in one of our best performances,” head coach Townsend said after Scotland’s winless streak against the All Blacks stretched to 34 games in more than 120 years.
“Obviously you go out of your way to try and win games but it’s more about whether we can put in a performance we can be proud of and it wasn’t there today so it’s frustrating.
“I think what the team has done in previous games, whether it’s in Pretoria or Córdoba or here in the Six Nations, they’ve been much better performances than we gave today, so it’s a real disappointment.
“A much better performance might not have led to the win, but it’s more of a disappointment that we didn’t deliver what we set out to do.”
Although Scotland played well in the first half, Townsend felt they “made it possible New Zealand to get into our 22 by not having to work as much”.
He added: “On the other side, I felt the effort that went into our attack, the breakdown was excellent in the first half.”
“It was clearly putting New Zealand under pressure with two yellow cards and three tries and kept it over the line a couple of times.
“The first 10 minutes of the second half is probably where the momentum came back.
“We had a set-up in their 22, we didn’t execute, we were inaccurate and then we went back to our 22.
“I didn’t think it was the right decision against Sione offside (due to his yellow card) and then we didn’t really get involved after that.”
New Zealand coach Rennie praised his players for digging deep after Cadwallader passed away in Edinburgh last weekend.
“I am proud because it was an important day for us,” he said.
“It’s been a tough week with a huge emotional toll on the group. You’d see some players visibly upset at the final whistle, so I’m proud of them for coming through.”