New Zealand were made to work hard before claiming a 22-17 victory over a spirited Scotland side in their end-of-year Test at Murrayfield on Saturday.
The All Blacks did not always have things their way, especially during the opening half which was dominated by Scotland, and the teams went into the sheds at the interval with the score level at 3-3.
The world champions eventually outscored their hosts three tries to two and the result means Scotland are still winless against New Zealand after 112 years of Test rugby between the two countries.
Scotland made a fine start and after dominating early on, Finn Russell opened the scoring with a penalty in the seventh minute after Waisake Naholo went off his feet at a ruck.
The home side continued to hold the upper-hand and five minutes later Russell had another shot at goal — after Vaea Fifita was penalised at a ruck — but his effort was off target.
They continued to have the bulk of the possession and were camped inside the All Blacks' half for large periods but had nothing to show for their efforts.
There were some worried looks in the New Zealand camp when referee Matthew Carley consulted his television match official, Graham Hughes, after Naholo took Stuart Hogg out in the air.
Hogg came down heavily under Naholo's challenge but Hughes ruled that contact was unavoidable and Scotland were only awarded a penalty.
The All Blacks had several opportunities to open their account during the opening half but instead of opting for a shot at goal, their captain Kieran Read instructed Beauden Barrett to put the ball into touch.
Invariably, they reaped no reward from this tactic but when Scotland's backs strayed offside on defence in the 39th minute, Barrett decided to take a shot at goal, which he converted.
Despite that poor opening half, the All Blacks made a bright start to the second period and five minutes after the restart, Rieko Ioane threw an inch-perfect long pass to Codie Taylor, who crossed in the left-hand corner.
Five minutes later, New Zealand were camped inside Scotland's 22 again and Sonny Bill Williams delivered a perfectly-weighted grubber kick which Damian McKenzie gathered before dotting down.
Barrett added the extras but the All Blacks were dealt a blow 10 minutes later when Sam Cane was sent to the sin bin for a cynical foul on defence close to his try-line.
Shortly afterwards, Scotland made their numerical advantage count when Jonny Gray showed great determination to power his way over the try-line despite the attentions of three defenders.
The world champions struck back in the 67th minute when Williams shrugged off a tackle before offloading to McKenzie. He did well to draw in the final defender before passing to Barrett, who crossed for his side's third try.
Three minutes later, New Zealand suffered another setback when Wyatt Crockett was also yellow carded after he took Ali Price out at a ruck close to the world champions' try-line.
Scotland would finish stronger and three minutes before full-time Hogg stabbed a grubber kick through which Tommy Seymour gathered inside New Zealand's 22, before throwing an inside pass to Huw Jones, who crossed for a deserved try.
Russell slotted the conversion from close to the touchline which meant the score was 22-17 to the visitors. Scotland launched some attacks during the game's closing stages but the All Blacks' defence did well to keep them at bay.
The scorers:
For Scotland:
Tries: Gray, Jones
Cons: Russell 2
Pen: Russell
For New Zealand:
Tries: Taylor, McKenzie, Barrett
Cons: Barrett 2
Pen: Barrett
Yellow Cards: Cane, Crockett
Scotland: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Lee Jones, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ali Price, 8 Cornell du Preez, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 John Barclay (c), 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Ben Toolis, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Stuart McInally, 1 Darryl Marfo
Replacements: 16 George Turner, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Grant Gilchrist, 20 Luke Hamilton, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Pete Horne, 23 Byron McGuigan
New Zealand: 15 Damian McKenzie, 14 Waisake Naholo, 13 Ryan Crotty, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 11 Rieko Ioane, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read (c), 7 Sam Cane, 6 Vaea Fifita, 5 Samuel Whitelock, 4 Luke Romano, 3 Nepo Laulala, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Kane Hames
Replacements: 16 Nathan Harris, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Ofa Tu'ungafasi, 19 Liam Squire, 20 Matt Todd, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Lima Sopoaga, 23 Anton Lienert-Brown
Referee: Matthew Carley (England)
Assistant referees: Romain Poite (France), Ian Davies (Wales)
TMO: Graham Hughes (England)
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