Match Scotland 17 v New Zealand 25 - 08/11/2025 - Quilter Nations Series

It was a clinical opening 40 minutes from the All Blacks at Scottish Gas Murrayfield, where the hosts' effort and ambition were undone by moments of ruthless New Zealand quality.

The visitors struck inside three minutes. Lock Josh Lord burst through a gap from the base of a ruck and surged into open space before offloading to scrum-half Cam Roigard, who finished under the posts. Fly-half Beauden Barrett converted for a dream start.

Scotland battled hard but found themselves repeatedly repelled by New Zealand’s ferocious defence. The hosts struggled to make ground, while the All Blacks gained metres with minimal phases, their offloading game stretching the Scottish line. A prolonged spell in the Scotland 22 ended when centre Quinn Tupaea spilled the ball with the try-line beckoning, drawing a roar of relief from the home crowd.

Moments later, fly-half Finn Russell, playing with heavy strapping on his leg, produced a moment of brilliance with a 50:22 kick to give Scotland a rare attacking platform. That led to their best chance of the half: Blair Kinghorn broke clear and fed Darcy Graham, but the winger was held up over the line.

Instead, it was New Zealand who extended their lead. Scotland were penalised for offside, and Barrett slotted the kick for 10-0. Worse followed when Kiwi wing Leroy Carter was shown a yellow card for tripping Graham, but Scotland failed to capitalise. Powerful carries from blindside Gregor Brown and centre Rory Hutchinson brought them close, yet composure deserted them at the crucial moment.

The All Blacks punished that wastefulness on the stroke of half-time. Exploiting space down the short side, back rower Wallace Sititi - named after William 'Braveheart' Wallace, no less, thanks to his dad's playing spell with in the Scottish Borders - brushed past Graham and sent the prolific Will Jordan racing in for their second try. Barrett’s conversion made it 17-0 at the interval, leaving Scotland with a mountain to climb.

Scotland roared back after the restart. Hooker Ewan Ashman powered over following a series of close-range carries, and with No.8 Ardie Savea shown a yellow card for illegally halting the drive, Russell added the conversion to make it 17-7.

The momentum stayed with the hosts. Centre Sione Tuipulotu sparked the next attack with a surging carry, and Russell’s wide pass sent wing Kyle Steyn over for Scotland’s second try. Russell converted, and Scottish Gas Murrayfield erupted as the deficit closed to 17-14.

Scotland’s comeback continued when Russell slotted a penalty after fullback Damian McKenzie strayed offside, levelling the scores at 17-17 with 20 minutes to play. By then, New Zealand were down to 14 again after Sititi was sin-binned for a deliberate knock-on, and history beckoned for Scotland.

But the All Blacks held firm and struck decisively. McKenzie, on at full-back, produced a moment of brilliance with a 50:22 before scoring in the corner after shrugging off Blair Kinghorn’s tackle. His conversion attempt was off-target, but he made amends with a late penalty to seal victory at 25-17.

⭐️ QUILTER PLAYER OF THE MATCH: DAMIAN McKENZIE (NZL)

"It was a tough old test. It's never easy coming over to Edinburgh playing a Scottish team. The boys started well and Scotland just came out and they're on top of us for the majority of that second half. As a team we knew we just had to be patient; once we got opportunities, nail them, play the right areas of the field.

"The atmosphere in the city all week has been amazing. There have been a lot of Kiwi supporters over here so we really appreciate you for coming out. Scotland fans as well: it's awesome to play in front of them. I'm really proud of everything tonight."