Ashman's Hat-Trick in Vain as Barrett's 50th Try Seals All Blacks' 43-21 Murrayfield Win

For forty minutes, Murrayfield dared to believe. Then the All Blacks did what the All Blacks have done to Scotland for 121 years, and the belief drained away in a second half Scotland never scored a point in. The final score, 43-21, looks like a comfortable New Zealand win. It was anything but — at least not until the break. Seven tries flew in during a breathless first half, the lead changed hands, and when the players walked off at half-time the scoreboard read 24-21 to the visitors, with Scotland right in a game nobody had given them much chance in. At the heart of it was Ewan Ashman. The Scotland hooker scored three tries in the opening 38 minutes — in the 8th, 26th and 38th — and in doing so became the first Scotsman ever to score a hat-trick against New Zealand. Each one was converted by Finn Russell, each one lifted the noise a notch higher, and for a while it felt as though the afternoon might finally produce the result Scotland have chased since 1905. New Zealand, though, kept answering. Wallace Sititi opened the scoring after just three minutes, charging over after a dummy carry from Peter Lakai. Ethan de Groot and Lakai himself added further tries, and Beauden Barrett, playing at full-back, latched onto a flat Damian McKenzie pass to score his 49th Test try and stretch the lead to 24-14. Ashman's third, on the stroke of half-time, made it 24-21, and the stadium went into the break buzzing. What followed was a lesson in what separates the very best from the nearly there. New Zealand won the second half 19-0. Josh Moorby crossed eight minutes after the restart, benefiting from a dominant scrum, and Barrett followed two minutes later to complete his brace and bring up 50 Test tries — a landmark that puts him in rare company. Replacement hooker Asafo Aumua finished the scoring in the 68th minute, racing away from a lineout move to seal the All Blacks' seventh try of the afternoon. Scotland faded under sustained pressure, unable to turn territory into points as the visitors' replacements — Bower, Tosi and Aumua — kept the scrum moving forward and the scoreboard ticking over. It was a ruthless second-half display, the kind that has defined this fixture for more than a century. The numbers now read like a monument. This was the 34th Test between the two nations. New Zealand have won 32 of them, with two drawn, in a sequence stretching back to 1905. Scotland ran them close last year at Murrayfield, losing 25-17, and for a half here they looked capable of going one better. But close, in this fixture, has never been enough. For New Zealand, the win keeps them perfect in the inaugural Nations Championship, following three wins in the southern hemisphere section in July. They move level with South Africa on 20 points in the southern hemisphere standings, with the Springboks staying top only on points difference — plus 140 to plus 73. For Scotland, the wait goes on. The history books will remember Ashman's hat-trick. The result, though, is one they have seen 32 times before.