New Zealand beat Scotland 43-21 at Murrayfield as Ewan Ashman scores hat-trick

New Zealand beat Scotland 43-21 at Murrayfield in the Nations Championship November Test, scoring seven tries to Scotland's three. Ewan Ashman crossed three times for Scotland, and Finn Russell kicked three conversions. The win gives New Zealand 32 victories in 34 Tests between the sides, with two draws going back to 1905, so Scotland's wait for a first win over the All Blacks goes on.

New Zealand43

Scotland21

New Zealand

43 points

Scotland

21 points

Data from the article text

Opening exchanges

New Zealand drew first blood in the fourth minute, when Wallace Sititi exploited a loose Scottish defensive effort to touch down from a lineout, though Damian McKenzie missed the conversion. Ashman replied in the eighth minute, squeezing over from a lineout with Russell converting. Ethan de Groot ploughed through three Scottish defenders to score from close range in the 16th minute. Codie Taylor touched down from a lineout maul in the 20th minute, leaving the visitors 10 points clear, and at the end of the first quarter the score stood at 17-7 to New Zealand.

Peter Lakai was sin-binned for repeated infringements in the 23rd minute. Within three minutes Ashman powered over again after brilliant work by Rory Darge and Sione Tuipulotu, cutting the deficit to three.

Barrett, a yellow card and the hat-trick

With New Zealand down to 14 men, Beauden Barrett found a gap after being fed by McKenzie and scored the first of his two tries straight after Ashman's second, with McKenzie adding the conversion. Wallace Sititi was then yellow-carded, and Ashman completed his hat-trick with a third try. Ashman was the first Scot to score a hat-trick against New Zealand, according to The Scotsman, while The Independent counted him the fifth player ever to do so. Scotland trailed only 24-21 at the break, with the Edinburgh hooker's treble keeping the match close.

The second half

The visitors ran away with the match after the interval. Josh Moorby, Barrett again and Asafo Aumua all scored for New Zealand in the second half. Scotland failed to score a point after the break, and the final score stood at 43-21. McKenzie kicked four conversions across the match, and New Zealand's late pressure left the hosts with little answer.

Tributes and context

Before kick-off there was a moment's applause for former Edinburgh captain Ally Donaldson, who died in September, and for long-serving All Blacks head of security Logan Cadwallader, who died in Edinburgh shortly before the match. Scotland last played against Fiji almost four months earlier. In that span New Zealand, ranked second in the world, were involved in 10 matches, including a gruelling four-game series against South Africa. Dave Rennie's side and Gregor Townsend's side met on a day when the visitors were the more settled team in the closing stages.