All Blacks hammer Scotland

 

RICHARD KNOWLER IN EDINBURGH - Stuff

Last updated 07:04 14/11/2010

Highlights of the All Blacks' win over Scotland at Murrayfield.

All Blacks v Scotland

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PETER MEECHAM/Fairfax Media Zoom

All Blacks perform the haka before the match against Scotland.

  More than a century of misery against the All Blacks continued for Scotland this morning after they were pounded 49-3 at Murrayfield.

Never did the New Zealanders' 105-year unbeaten streak look in doubt, with the tourists racing in seven tries against a Scottish side that was unable to match their precision, pace and, at times, sheer audacity on attack.
For skipper Richie McCaw and Mils Muliaina it was a fine way to mark their 92^nd test appearances, which saw them match Sean Fitzpatrick's milestone, and will certainly be broken within the next two weeks as the All Blacks prepare to complete another grand slam with matches against Ireland and Wales.
The best indicator as to just how much of an easy night this was for the All Blacks coaches' hearts was when they tugged openside flanker McCaw off the field with more than 20 minutes remaining, replacing him with Daniel Braid, to place him on ice as they looked ahead to Dublin and Cardiff.
For the Scots, who looked to still be searching for their combinations and rhythm after not playing together since June, this was just too big of an ask to expect them to create history.
Rarely did they look like scoring as the All Blacks defence proved impregnable and to darken their mood there was the worrying sight of Max Evans being wheeled off the field on a buggy after injuring his neck in a tackle on No 8 Kieran Read.
A pair of tries in the opening 12 minutes immediately had Scotland backpedalling, with Hosea Gear and Dan Carter racing over and seven minutes later Mils Muliaina added to their misery when he collected the third five-pointer.
Of the three, it was difficult not to be most impressed by Gear's effort; a pearler from a scrum inside the Scottish quarter, he hared off his left wing to pluck a juicy Sonny Bill Williams delivery out of mid-air and left the mesmerised defenders staring at each other with confused looks on their faces.
Gear had to work harder for the All Blacks' fourth try, although even he would have been surprised at the way the passive Scottish tacklers happily waved him through after he changed his angle and chopped infield unchallenged.
Four converted tries inside the first half hour and the match was over.
It was little wonder Scotland coach Andy Robinson was spotted out of his seat and leaning against a wall, looking as if he had just learned his superannuation fund had been plundered.
Granted, the All Blacks' dedication to eradicating the errors that had blotted their second half performance against England the previous weekend had paid dividends, but the Scotland defence was sadly lacking in desire.
From the opening whistle the New Zealanders signalled their attacking intent as they several times unleashed the ball towards Isaia Toeava's right wing in a bid to perforate the stretched Scotland defensive line.
One decent break by Toeava preceded a sweeping attack and it was Williams who gave him the vital space down a narrow channel near the touchline as he somehow flipped out a pass to the wing.
Prior to this match Williams expressed an eagerness to get more involved; having worn the No 13 jersey against England last weekend at Twickenham, the former rugby league star looked more comfortable at the familiar second five-eighth operating inside centre Conrad Smith.
The 25-year-old wowed the 56,807-strong crowd with his sheer audacity as he repeatedly untangled his long arms, and with hands the size of buckets, squeezed the ball out to his support runners.
Muliaina was another benefactor of the Williams magic as he crossed over for the penultimate try and Smith could also give the big nod of approval after he was involved in the movement that led to his five-pointer too.
All Blacks 49 (Hosea Gear 2, Mils Muliaina 2, Dan Carter, Conrad Smith, Andy Ellis tries; Carter 5 conv, Stephen Donald 2 conv)
Scotland 3 (Dan Parks pen).
Halftime: 28-3.

Rugby: Rampant All Blacks thrash Scotland

Sun, 14 Nov 2010

Click photo to enlarge

New Zealand captain Richie McCaw, left, battles his way past Scotland's Dan Parks. (AP Photo/Scott Heppell)

Murrayfield plunged into darkness to commemorate Armistice Day, and when illuminated it was Scotland who surrendered as the All Blacks sauntered to a 49-3 victory, keeping their Grand Slam quest alive. Any ambitions of Scotland's rugby renaissance continuing with a historic success against New Zealand following 105 years of defeat were soon revised to damage limitation as the All Blacks hushed an expectant crowd of 56,807 with a clinical first half display that yielded four tries.
The tone was set as the first strain of a lone piper's "Scotland the Brave" reverberated, only to be silenced by a classical Sonny Bill Williams offload to Hosea Gear in ninth minute.
Williams, in his second test and first alongside centre Conrad Smith, scythed through the Scottish line with ominous ease before the alert Gear collected a one-handed flick to cross between the posts for the first of his double.
Three minutes later Dan Carter completed a 60-metre catch and pass exercise that had the Scots literally grasping at shadows.
Mils Muliaina probed the right hand flank, fed Isaia Toeava who freed Carter to coast to the line unimpeded.
The All Blacks first five-eighth might have had a second inside the opening quarter but unselfishly passed to Muliaina to mark his record-equalling 92nd test in style.
Captain Richie McCaw, who also joined illustrious predecessor Sean Fitzpatrick on 92 caps, was unable to score but was still typically effective at the breakdown -- another area where the All Blacks exerted superiority.
Gear, among the All Blacks' best during the 26-16 triumph at Twickenham last weekend, then compounded Scotland's woes after they botched a close range lineout -- a rare attacking opportunity from a penalty in the 25th minute.
Barely two minutes later, after the All Blacks had turned over possession, quick hands from Williams and Smith put Gear in enough space to flummox three defenders before he cruised over for his second -- to provide the All Blacks with an insurmountable 28-3 advantage at the break.
After Dan Parks capped Scotland's rousing, though brief, beginning with a penalty in the third minute, it was to be a night of minor victories for the hosts.
Although the scoreline from their last three encounters against New Zealand now amounts to a distressing 121-9 margin in the All Blacks' favour, Scotland at least avoided the ignominy of expunging the 49-point thrashing inflicted at Carisbrook a decade ago from the record books.
All Black head coach Graham Henry's predictable decision to empty his bench -- looking ahead to Ireland in Dublin -- with a quarter remaining also assisted Scotland's desperation to avoid a record-breaking rout.
Carter was the first to depart in the 50th minute with the All Blacks up 35-3 to facilitate Stephen Donald's public rehabilitation process after his distressing cameo in the tour-opening Hong Kong Bledisloe Cup loss to the Wallabies.
Donald had one grim moment when kicking a penalty dead -- a rare All Blacks indiscretion to enthuse a home crowd dumbfounded at the abrupt end to Scotland's four-match unbeaten run.
There was also a dominant scrum in the 54th minute which buckled the All Blacks formation, though in keeping with Scotland's inability to profit from the rare opportunities they received, possession was lost at the next engagement.
McCaw earned his rest in the 57th minute so Daniel Braid finally logged his first minutes on tour while Andrew Hore made a safe return from shoulder surgery when he was introduced for solid debutant Hika Elliot with 19 minutes remaining.
Despite the changes, the All Blacks still managed three more tries in the second half -- another Williams offload put Muliaina in the corner for his second and probably sealed the rookie's man of the match award.
He was also prominent with ball in hand before Smith crossed in the 67th minute and then Donald has a positive impact when his break gave reserve halfback Andy Ellis a stroll to the posts with two minutes remaining.
The All Blacks head to Dublin tomorrow; there in no respite for the Scots -- world champions South Africa loom next weekend.
New Zealand 49 (Hosea Gear 2, Mils Muliaina 2, Dan Carter, Conrad Smith, Andy Ellis tries; Carter 5 conversions, Stephen Donald 2 conversions), Scotland 3 (Dan Parks penalty), HT: 28-3.

Rugby: Untouchable SBW hard to handle

Sun, 14 Nov 2010

Graham Henry and his coaching cohorts now share a dilemma with their counterparts for the remainder of the All Blacks Grand Slam rugby tour - devising a strategy to handle Sonny Bill Williams.
Those three names - and the phrase "offload" - were practically on everyone's lips in the aftermath of New Zealand's 49-3 swamping of the Scots at Murrayfield last night, an All Black master class that suggested Williams could eventually exert a Jonah Lomu-esque influence on the international game.
Just two games into his test career, the 25-year-old already has opposing coaches reaching for the superlatives when pondering his future impact on the code.
After witnessing man-of-the-match Williams orchestrate two of the All Blacks seven converted with audacious offloads that already seem routine, Scotland head coach Andy Robinson sounded in awe of the new midfield maestro.
"He's got everything, hasn't he? He's fantastic for the sport of rugby union, just not for a defensive coach or an opponent trying to mark him," Robinson said.
Williams made his test debut at Twickenham last weekend and soon made a favourable impression for a one-handed release in the build-up to Hosea Gear's maiden test try.
Nine minutes into what Scotland forlornly hoped would prove a continuation of their resurgence after a historic series win in Argentina five months ago, Gear was grateful to Williams again when he powered through the defensive line and flicked a no-look pass the wing was wise to anticipate.
Record-equalling fullback Mils Muliaina also profited from Williams' sleight of hand in the 48th minute. 
While Williams' other sly moves to keep the ball alive did not lead directly to tries, conventional passing assisted Gear's second while his running lines from second five-eighth frequently had the Scots standoffish in defence.
Scotland, and to a lesser extent England, had no answer to Williams's innate ability to pierce an opposing backline and, when halted, release the ball for an alert support player.
The question now for Henry and backs coach Wayne Smith is how to utilise Williams against Ireland and Wales.
Do they prolong his assimilation process in Dublin next weekend? Or do they revert to the Ma'a Nonu-Conrad Smith combination that would have been considered unbreakable until Williams signalled his World Cup ambitions by returning home from France in June.
Nonu and Smith, united for 26 tests since 2008, have been pivotal in nurturing Williams since his selection and in doing so appear to have inadvertently jeopardised their own careers.
Smith sat out the England test to indulge Williams' rare outing at centre; at Murrayfield Nonu was the only All Blacks reserve not needed as Scotland's demoralising 105-year wait to beat New Zealand featured another grim interlude.
Henry was noncommittal about his future plans for the All Blacks highest profile acquisition from rugby league but mirrored Robinson's enthusiasm for Williams' performance.
"He'll obviously be pretty pleased with the way he's playing," Henry dead panned.
"He's got an amazing ability to offload the ball in the tackle, I don't think I've seen any rugby player with that sort of skill in that situation before," he said, before predicting even greater heights for the 1.91-metre ball player.
"He's still getting comfortable playing at this level and with what we're trying to do.
"I still think there's a wee way to go there but I think he'll get more confident and even go to a higher standard in the future."
Captain Richie McCaw was also impressed with Williams' arrival to the All Black environment via Toulon and Canterbury.
"It's exciting to have a guy like that, he's a real threat and it's not always him just crashing the ball up, he can put guys away outside too."
Muliaina admitted Williams was unique in terms of backs he had shared his 92 test caps with - an All Black record he jointly holds with McCaw and Sean Fitzpatrick.
"Just watching it (offloads) on TV when he doing it in league, you wondered if he could transfer that into rugby," Muliaina said.
"He must have practised it a lot because he can certainly pull it off. A few times at training you think he's gone to deck and suddenly the ball pops out of nowhere."