Scotland’s All Blacks defeat was a painful reality check

And we all know how that turned out. 

Even after scoring a hat-trick, Scotland hooker Ewan Ashman summed up the post-match mood best. “I’d trade all three tries to have won that game,” he said.

Saturday’s meeting with New Zealand at Murrayfield was the one we had all been waiting for. It was Scotland’s chance to make history by beating the All Blacks for the first time in 121 years.

I was so convinced Scotland could do it that I had already started making plans to celebrate.

That made Saturday’s defeat all the harder to take, particularly the low-energy, one-sided dismal second half display in which New Zealand scored 19 unanswered points.

Ethan de Groot celebrates his try (Image: Steve Welsh/PA Wire)

The manner of the defeat threatens to turn Scotland’s remaining home Nations Championship matches against Australia next Sunday and Japan the following Saturday into an anti-climax. 

So why was I so optimistic, and how did I get it so spectacularly wrong? For starters, I couldn’t really quibble with Townsend’s team selection. There were no real surprises, and Scotland had enough experience, quality and firepower to give the All Blacks a serious examination.

My one reservation was Jack Dempsey starting at number eight. I wouldn’t have had him in my squad in the first place, given his decision to leave Glasgow Warriors for a lucrative contract with Toshiba Brave Lupus in Japan, which makes him unavailable for the Six Nations.

I had concerns that playing in the Japanese domestic league, a lower level of rugby, would leave him short of the sharpness required for a Test of this magnitude. Sadly, his performance did little to ease those fears.

He had a dreadful game when Scotland needed every player to be firing.

But there were plenty of reasons to believe Scotland could finally do it. They had pushed New Zealand desperately close at Murrayfield a year ago, recovering from 17-0 down to draw level before eventually losing 25-17.

Nine of the 15 players who started that match also started on Saturday. And on both occasions they had Finn Russell, arguably the best fly-half in world rugby, pulling the strings.

it was not a vintage afternoon for Russell on his 100th Test cap (Image: Steve Welsh/PA Wire)

There was enough there to convince me history was within reach. Indeed, I was so confident that I had sneakily helped myself to two match programmes from the stash in the Murrayfield press room. You’re supposed to take one, of course, but I had bigger plans.

One was destined never to be opened. It was going straight into a plastic protective cover, preserved for posterity. The other was to be signed by the history-making Scottish players and eventually passed down through my family for generations. I had everything covered. All Scotland had to do was win a rugby match. 

Aye, it’s the hope that kills you right enough.

At half-time, with Scotland only three points behind, I was still allowing myself to dream. I could almost picture myself telling future generations: “I was there.”

By the 60-minute mark, reality had begun to bite. By full-time, I had been reduced to finding something useful to do with an unsigned and increasingly pointless match programme.

It was a disappointing afternoon for Scotland. (Image: Mark Runnacles / Shutterstock)

When I got home, I flicked through it instead, looking at the rather depressing statistics of Scotland’s 121-year struggle against the All Blacks.

Saturday was the 34th meeting between the countries since that first encounter in 1905. Scotland have now lost 32 of them, with the other two ending in draws.

Of the 22 Tests played on Scottish soil, Scotland have lost 20. The All Blacks have scored 588 points in Scotland compared with 241 by the Scots. There have been some painful afternoons along the way, not least the record 69-20 defeat in Dunedin in 2000. 

Scotland had at least managed to make the more recent encounters competitive. They lost by eight points in 2014, five in 2017 and eight again in both 2022 and 2025.

There had been genuine hope that the gap was narrowing. Saturday reminded us that it’s not. New Zealand have another gear when they need it. Scotland don’t.

Scotland's key players were off it. Townsend took Russell and Ben White off at the same time, with 18 minutes left. It was the right call to bring on Tom Jordan at ten and George Horne at nine. That the substitutions had no impact whatsoever isn’t the point. It would have reminded both players that, regardless of reputation, they can’t expect to play a full game come what may.

Captain Sione Tuipolotu was another who had an off day. He picked up an unnecessary second-half yellow card, handing the momentum back to the All Blacks. At least he said afterwards he “accepted full responsibility” and shouldered the blame. 

As I said earlier, Jack Dempsey had a stinker. He should be dropped, and Josh Bayliss should start at eight. Kyle Rowe did okay at fullback but Blair Kinghorn, who replaced him after 52 minutes, should start against Australia.

On his day, Kinghorn is world-class. Unfortunately, that is usually for his club side Toulouse rather than Scotland. Hopefully he can raise his game for his country this time, rather than his club, against Australia.

Scotland are not short of talented players. Even in form, Northampton Saints centre Rory Hutchinson and Scotland’s top two record try scorers Duhan van der Merwe and Darcy Graham couldn’t get near the matchday squad against the All Blacks. All three should be back in the mix against the Wallabies.

In recent years Scotland have had a settled core, world-class individuals and a generation that has enjoyed more success than many of its predecessors. But I fear this supposed golden generation has let their best chance to make history by becoming the first group of players to beat the All Blacks slip through their fingers. 

Let’s not forget this was an All Blacks side that had to cope with the tragic, sudden death of their beloved head of security, Logan Cadwallader, in his Edinburgh hotel room last Sunday morning.

All Blacks legend Beauden Barrett said it had been “the most challenging week of his rugby career” and broke down in tears after the Scotland match.

Beauden Barrett, who scored two of the All Blacks' tries, broke down in tears post-match as he paid tribute to Logan Cadwallader (Image: Steve Welsh/PA Wire)

“This week was bigger than rugby,” he said. It is a credit to the New Zealand players that they kept themselves together and focused enough to run out easy winners at Murrayfield.

This group of Scotland players do have one last chance for immortality. They next face New Zealand in a World Cup warm-up match in Dunedin next September.

There is something wonderfully typical about the prospect of Scotland making history thousands of miles from home, in a warm-up match, when the majority of their supporters are not there to witness it. Instead of doing it at Murrayfield, in front of a sold-out crowd desperate to celebrate a landmark victory, they might end up beating the All Blacks when half the country is still asleep. That would be Scotland all over. 

Just now there is no time for Townsend and his team to feel sorry for themselves. Australia are next at Murrayfield and, while Scotland were never favourites to beat New Zealand, they should certainly fancy their chances against the Wallabies, regardless of their performance against England at the weekend.

Having covered two Scotland rugby tours Down Under, and being sent by The Herald to Melbourne to cover a young chap called Andy Murray playing in his first Australian Open back in 2006, I have seen first-hand just how far down the pecking order rugby union sits in Australia.

Vast swathes of the country probably wouldn’t open their curtains if a game of rugby union were being played in their back garden. Rugby league, Aussie Rules and cricket are the big attractions. Rugby union has to fight for its place among them.

That is why I have always had enormous respect for Australian players and coaches who have managed to punch so far above their weight. Two-time world champions, they have produced some of the game's greatest players, from David Campese and Michael Lynagh to John Eales and George Gregan.

The current Wallabies squad might not have quite the same collection of household names, which is another reason Scotland should be looking to win on Sunday. 

Australia were soundly beaten by England at Allianz Stadium on Sunday (Image: Ben Whitley/PA Wire)

There is no point talking about the disappointment of missing out on history if the lessons are not learned and the players who failed to take their opportunity are not held accountable and come back strong against Australia.

Scotland cannot change what happened against New Zealand. They cannot get that afternoon back, or give me the signed programme I was so looking forward to proudly showing off. 

I had gone to Murrayfield expecting to witness history.

Instead, I came home with two unsigned programmes and another reminder of why following Scotland is not for the faint-hearted.