All Blacks too good for Scotland

New Zealand cruised home to a comfortable 32-6 victory over an error-prone Scotland outfit at a wet Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh on Saturday.

It was a mixed performance by the All Blacks who scored two first half tries to lead 18-6 at the break against the home side who produced their trademark passion, particularly up front.

New Zealand produced plenty of polish at times to trouble the Scots and also gutsed out many awkward moments, as the pace and power of the visitors proved too much for a courageous but limited and error-ridden Scotland team.

The All Blacks will also have left the ground content with the refereeing effort of controversial whistleman Wayne Barnes who produced a display full of authority as he policed the breakdowns hard.

New Zealand coach Graham Henry had opted to keep his powder dry for the tougher Tests that lie ahead by naming a line-up featuring three debutants and twelve changes from the side that started last weekend's Bledisloe Cup win over Australia in Hong Kong.

That had led to the Scots kicking off with high hopes of taking advantage of the relative inexperience of their opponents line-up to end their 103-year wait for a victory over their visitors.

But the new-look All Blacks mixed some brilliant attack and resolute defence to get the Grand Slam under way with a patchy but encouraging performance that was more than enough to see off Scotland.

The heavy defeat was a significant blow to Scotland coach Frank Hadden's hopes of gaining some momentum in the November Tests after a disappointing Six Nations earlier this year.

The drawn series in Argentina earlier this year was an encouraging step in the right direction but this was arguably Scotland's best chance to enjoy success against New Zealand in the professional era, given Henry's 'experimental' selection.

The Scots received a frenzied welcomed from a crowd of 50,000 and then a minute's silence in honour of Remembrance Day was broken by an air force helicopter hovering over the stadium.

The Haka got a rapturous reception and finished with rival locks Ali Williams and Nathan Hines in a face-off close to halfway.  The All Blacks came in behind Williams who eventually won the stare-down.

Things started promisingly enough for the hosts with skipper Mike Blair breaking the line to send Chris Paterson on a run that was halted, illegally by All Black flanker Adam Thomson, under the posts.

Paterson duly dispatched the ensuing penalty but Scotland's advantage was handed back immediately when centre Nick de Luca was sin-binned for kicking the ball away in a ruck.

New Zealand pivot Stephen Donald landed the penalty goal to level the scores at 3-3 with five minutes barely up on the clock.

With Scotland down to fourteen men, Keven Mealamu's men quickly made use of their numerical advantage when a precise cross-field kick from Donald was collected by winger Anthony Tuitavake.

He shrugged off the desperate tackle of Paterson to touch down and Donald converted a well-struck sideline conversion to give the visitors a 10-3 lead.

Paterson and Donald traded further penalties before New Zealand lock Anthony Boric robbed the ball from the Scots near halfway.

The ball was quickly swung down the line and centre Richard Kahui stabbed a grubber into open space behind the Scottish defence and while he, Tuitavake and centre Ma'a Nonu charged through close to the line, it was scrum-half Piri Weepu who picked up the ball to score.

A rare penalty miss by Paterson did not help the home side's cause but hooker Ross Ford's storming run through the All Blacks midfield triggered their first period of sustained pressure.

Some desperate defending saw lock Boric sent to the sin-bin but New Zealand weathered the storm, with the help of Scotland wing Sean Lamont, who kicked at clean air after his own forward chip had left him with a clear run at the line.

Just before half-time, Isaia Toeava suffered a shoulder injury and he was replaced at the break by Cory Jane, who made his mark immediately as he sent a kick down the centre of the field.

Scotland let the ball bounce and it was Kahui who raced through to take the ball and then clear out to run 35 metres for the try.

Donald converted to make it 25-6 and to rub further salt into Scotland's wound, Lamont -- playing his first game for his country this year -- injured his hamstring while chasing Kahui and had to be replaced by Hugo Southwell.

The game was now extremely disjointed and a rare piece of good enterprising play saw rookie number eight Liam Messam break Scotland's line and offload to Jane -- only for the replacement full-back to knock on with the line at his mercy.

Instead, the fourth came six minutes from the end with Boric making amends for his first-half indiscretion, crashing up the middle to score between the posts.

The victory will further raise expectations that the All Blacks can repeat their Grand Slam tour of 2006.

Man of the match:  Stephen Donald was much more in control and directed play well while the untried loose forward combination of Adam Thomson, Kieran Read and Liam Messam proved sound and spirited against their more experienced rivals.  But our vote goes to Richard Kahui who had a fine performance slipping the defences several times but also making some telling tackles.

Moment of the match:  Take your pick from all four of the All Blacks tries -- each one of them a masterpiece in their own right.  But we're going for a lighter side of the match when Dan Carter came off the bench to finish the game at ... wait for it ... scrum-half!  Is there anything this man can't do?

Villain of the match:  Two yellow cards from both camps, but it was Edinburgh centre Nick De Luca's misdemeanour that was more costly for his team after such a good start to the match.  Thirteen points in total in his absence and Scotland never recovered.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Pens:  Paterson 2

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Tuitavake, Weepu, Kahui, Boric
Cons:  Donald 2, Carter
Pens:  Donald 2

Yellow cards:  De Luca (Scotland, 2 min), Boric (New Zealand, 30 min)

Scotland:  15 Chris Paterson, 14 Thom Evans, 13 Ben Cairns, 12 Nick De Luca, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Phil Godman, 9 Mike Blair (c), 8 Simon Taylor, 7 John Barclay, 6 Jason White, 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Nathan Hines, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Allan Jacobson,
Replacements:  16 Dougie Hall, 17 Alasdair Dickinson, 18 Matt Mustchin, 19 Scott Gray, 20 Rory Lawson, 21 Dan Parks, 22 Hugo Southwell.

New Zealand:  15 Isaia Toeava, 14 Anthony Tuitavake, 13 Richard Kahui, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Joe Rokocoko, 10 Stephen Donald, 9 Piri Weepu, 8 Liam Messam, 7 Adam Thomson, 6 Kieran Read, 5 Ali Williams, 4 Anthony Boric, 3 John Afoa, 2 Keven Mealamu (c), 1 Jamie Mackintosh.
Replacements:  16 Corey Flynn, 17 Neemia Tialata, 18 Ross Filipo, 19 Riche McCaw, 20 Andy Ellis, 21 Daniel Carter, 22 Cory Jane.

Referee:  Wayne Barnes (England)
Touch judges:  Dave Pearson (England), Paul Dix (England)
Television match official:  Graham Hughes (England)
Assessor:  Michel Lamoulie (France)