For the All Blacks, the angst of their three yellow cards against Scotland can wait. Immediately after their 25-17 victory, their priority was celebrating a success that kept their Grand Slam hopes alive and recognising a game-changing intervention from Damian McKenzie.
McKenzie, who replaced Caleb Clarke on 45 minutes at Murrayfield after the wing went off for a head injury assessment (which he failed), was one of the smallest on the field, and required seven stitches for a facial laceration, but stood tallest when it counted.
The All Blacks were once well known for their impact players and they had two of the best in Ardie Savea and Beauden Barrett starting this Test, but McKenzie’s quality in that final 10 minutes will linger in the mind for a long time.
Damien McKenzie heroics seal dramatic late win over Scotland - watch on TVNZ+
He was bounced around as his cut face and bloodied white jersey can attest but was utterly unfazed and if his 50-22 kick, which put the All Blacks hot on attack when the game was slipping away at 17-17, was one of the best examples seen this year (opposition skipper Sione Tuipulotu called it a “gut punch”), his finish in the left corner to put his side ahead was something else entirely.
McKenzie almost defied physics by throwing fullback Blair Kinghorn out of the way with his right hand and pivoting to flop over the line to score with his left without leaving the field of play.
And, while he missed a difficult conversion, his penalty from well over 40m to all but secure the victory with a minute remaining topped off a special performance.
“He’s clutch… and mercurial,” head coach Scott Robertson said. “He can kick a 50-22, score a try and kick a penalty.
“He’s little but he’s tough and he trusts himself and he did it again over and over.”
Afterwards, the man himself said of his try: “I don’t usually wear long sprigs, but it might’ve been that which kept me in.”
“There was a bit of luck. It helps when you’ve got a great forward pack. We had an advantage, so we had a free shot at it.
“As an impact player it’s about reading the game, coming on and injecting energy where you can. The first half of that 20 minutes we were on defence most of the time.
“I’m pleased with how we were able to withstand that and turn it around to play some attacking rugby. Coming away with the win here at Murrayfield is extremely pleasing.”
Last weekend in Chicago the All Blacks were sluggish starters against Ireland, only to turn it on in the final quarter.
Against Scotland they were far sharper from the first whistle and did the fundamentals superbly, with Cam Roigard taking advantage of an excellent Josh Lord break to score the first try and Will Jordan making the most of an excellent sleight of hand from Wallace Sititi.
Leroy Carter’s yellow card for a foot trip on Darcy Graham, however, was not as clever, and it was a sign of things to come, with skipper Ardie Savea sinbinned for collapsing a maul, from which the Scots scored through hooker Ewan Ashman, and Sititi dispatched for an intentional knock-down.
The departures meant the All Blacks played with 14 men for half an hour (23 of those minutes were in the second half), and the Scots took advantage by completely dominating the third quarter. Wing Kyle Steyn scored Scotland's other try, with Finn Russell's penalty levelling the scoreboard after 60 minutes.
“There were some amazing efforts on defence," Robertson said. "We were so proud of that. We could have rolled over and given up… but we didn’t, we stayed in it.
“It wasn’t perfect. We could have put them away and won by 30 points but we won tough and that’s what makes us proud.”
There is no doubt, though, that the result could have been very different had prop Pierre Shoeman not shelled a pass on the All Blacks’ line, and wing Graham not bounced the ball in the act of scoring – Roigard’s late intervention a timely one in the right corner.
And the fragility seen in the All Blacks' defeats to Argentina and South Africa this year – a sense they are mere witnesses rather than active participants as events unfold around them – may give England hope ahead of their Test at Twickenham next Sunday. Finding a way to wrest back momentum, or even win back the ball at times, remains their biggest challenge.
Savea, leading the side in the absence of the injured Scott Barrett, said his men need to display more self control.
“You’ve got to be more accurate,” Savea said when asked about the yellow cards. “Those are individual fixes. You’ve got to look hard in the mirror. I’m proud that it could have gone the other way with the crowd… we were calm towards the end.”
Of Scotland’s response in the second half after being 17-0 down, he said: “We dropped the kick-off right at the beginning and then Scotland grew another leg. It’s a testament – I said during the week – they’re a quality side. At 17-0 they’re going to throw everything at you… in parts of that game we didn’t handle it. It’s on us when we do have a lead like that – how do we become more ruthless?”
For Scotland’s Tuipulotu, a strong figure in his side’s midfield, failing to get his team across the line to make history after 120 years clearly hurt.
“I don’t want to get up here and say I’m proud of the group and we played well because I think we’re better than that now,” he said.
“It’s a tough pill to swallow right now. The group and the coaches are hurting, as you can imagine.”
All Blacks 25 (Cam Roigard, Will Jordan, Damian McKenzie tries; Beauden Barrett 2 cons, pen, McKenzie pen)
Scotland 17 (Ewan Ashman, Kyle Steyn tries; Finn Russell 2 cons, pen)
Halftime: 17-0
SHARE ME