All Blacks complete formalities

Clean sweep complete after win in Edinburgh

New Zealand recorded a controlled 29-10 victory over Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday, a result that plonks the cherry on the top of an absolutely sumptuous season.  The All Blacks whitewashed of the Lions, triumphed in the Tri-Nations and have now completed the "grand slam" -- wins over all four Home Unions.

But bless Scotland!  They certainly made a match of it and actually had the better of the second half which ended 7-7 but a half in which Scotland had far and away the better chances to score.

They could, as in the first half, have banged kicks at goal but instead looked to get tries -- and just before the end that did just that.  The Scots were set on handling the ball.  That did not let them down but their kicking did.

By the end of the first half, with the All Blacks leading 22-, the writing on the wall would have said "big New Zealand victory".  But that was not the case and New Zealand spent most of the half on the defence.  They conceded penalties -- eight of them, three by Angus MacDonald, their scrum let up and their line-outs were less sure.  But the New Zealand defence was still so strong.

In the first half Scotland used a five-metre line-out to drive a maul over the line for what may well have been a try but the match officials could not see that it really was a try, and Scottish hopes may well have faded but to their credit they tries it again and again -- six times in the second half in the hope that practice would make perfect, but this New Zealand side is resilient.  When they did get their try it was an exquisite moment and no more than what the Scots deserved.  They had put great effort into scoring a try.

The very start to the match looked ominous for the Scots as New Zealand caught the kick-off and sent Joe Rokocoko racing 50 metres or so.  But Scotland opened the scoring when Dan Parks kicked a penalty.  But as the half wore on, the Scots were worn down.  Their line-outs became rickety and their scrum frail.  It made it all the harder to explain the Scottish resurgence in the second half.

The All Blacks made mistakes.  Tana Umaga was guilty of two gross knock-ons when tries beckoned.

But then tries beckoned whenever the All Blacks decided to run.

Come half time at cold, not-full Murrayfield New Zealand led 22-3.  It was going to be a tough second half for the Scots, a rewarding one for a New Zealand team which was not their best team.

Rico Gear got two tries for New Zealand, one in each half.  Piri Weepu made the first one when he went blind and grubbered.  The television match official confirmed that Gear had indeed grounded the ball fairly.  That made it 5-3.

The second try was brilliant -- All Blacks at their best as they picked up a dropped Scottish pass and came down the right from well inside their own half, went left and came back right before scoring going left through Evans who brushed aside Jason White's tackle to run round behind the posts.  He converted.  12-3.  The nmumbers of the players who handled tells the story of all-out All Black attack -- 14 -> 12 -> 15 -> 9 -> 10 -> 4 -> 9 -> 3 -> 5 -> 6 -> 5 -> 9 -> 10 -> 12 -> 9 -> 8 -> 13 -> 2 -> 9 -> 10, who scored.

An Evans penalty made it 15-3.

The third try was a great All Black moment.  Hugo Southwell kicked the ball out, the crowd applauded and New Zealand scored.  Well inside his 22, Nick Evans broke.  He seemed to be held but instead he was speeding down the field.  Through quick phases the ball went till it came to tall James Ryan who juggled and juggled and juggled again and left Sione Lauaki to juggle once and score.  Evans converted.  22-3.

Both sides made many changes as the half wore on but by and large it was Scotland who did better and could have scored a try of great brilliance had Sean Lamont had Gear or Rokocoko speed.  The Scots ran from near their own line and there was Lamont big, quick and nifty bursting down the field but Umaga hunted him down.  The Scots managed to keep the ball going but there was nobody on hand to keep it going at speed off Lamont.

Because New Zealand were pinned in their own half for much of the half their try had to be a long-distance affair.  They broke out and there they were again with that confident handling and endless support.  The great moment in the move was when replacement lock Jason Eaton acted like a classy centre, straightening dummying and giving Gear a perfect pass for his second try.  Leon MacDonald, on at fly-half for Evans, converted.

Scotland's try, inevitably, came from close in.  he attacked down in the corner on their left and replacement fly-half Phil Godman slid a perfect grubber on a diagonal in behind the charging defenders.  Replacement, blue-capped Simon Webster won the race for the ball his hands stretching out to get the touchdown, as the TMO conformed.  Paterson hurried to kick the conversion , doubtlessly because the Scots wanted to score again.  They did not, but in losing a match they won lots of success.

Man of the Match:  Piri Weepu was strong and good and Chris Jack was energetic and effective, but our man-of-the-match is the Scottish wing Sean Lamont -- so strong and daring, unfazed by the might of the army in front of him.

Moment of the Match:  There was James Eaton's pass to Rico Gear, there was James Eaton's pick-up off the ground.  There was that first run by Joe Rokocoko and there was the powerful run by Sean Lamont.  But our moment of the match was the juggling act that preceded Sione Lauaki's try, a passage of play that seems to encapsulates this crop of ABs -- they are able to craft silk purses out of pigs' ears.

Villains:  None.  It was not a day for villains, this special day of Grand Slam.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Try:  Webster
Con:  Paterson
Pen:  Paterson

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Gear 2, Evans, Lauaki
Cons:  Evans 2, MacDonald
Pen:  Evans

Scotland:  15 Hugo Southwell, 14 Chris Paterson, 13 Marcus Di Rollo, 12 Andrew Henderson, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Dan Parks, 9 Chris Cusiter, 8 Simon Taylor, 7 Allister Hogg, 6 Jason White (captain), 5 Stuart Murray, 4 Craig Hamilton, 3 Bruce Douglas, 2 Scott Lawson, 1 Gavin Kerr.
Replacements:  16 Dougie Hall, 17 Craig Smith, 18 Alastair Kellock, 19 Kelly Brown, 20 Mike Blair, 21 Phil Godman, 22 Simon Webster.

New Zealand:  15 Isaia Toeava, 14 Rico Gear, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Tana Umaga (captain), 11 Joe Rokocoko, 10 Nick Evans, 9 Piri Weepu, 8 Sione Lauaki, 7 Richie McCaw, 6 Angus MacDonald, 5 James Ryan, 4 Chris Jack, 3 John Afoa, 2 Anton Oliver, 1 Saimone Taumoepeau.
Replacements:  16 Andrew Hore, 17 Neemia Tialata, 18 Jason Eaton, 19 Mose Tuiali'i, 20 Jimmy Cowan, 21 Leon MacDonald, 22 Ma'a Nonu.

Referee:  Nigel Whitehouse (Wales)
Touch judges:  Chris White (England), George Clancy (Ireland)
Television match official:  Christophe Berdos (France)