Following the All Blacks\u2019 25-17 victory over Scotland at Murrayfield, here\u2019s our key winners and losers from the Autumn Nations Series meeting in Edinburgh.<\/p>\n
Winners<\/p>\n
Damian McKenzie<\/p>\n
The 30-year-old is frequently the butt of criticism when New Zealand<\/a> fans assess his contributions, but he was supreme in this get-out-of-jail victory. The Kiwis were just coming under the pump when introduced early in the second half, and the legacy of his involvement in the passage that ended with the scores deadlocked at 17-all was a bloody face and jersey.<\/p>\n However, when it mattered most, he spectacularly came up trumps, executing a delicious 50\/22 to allow his team to secure the territory and build the pressure that eventually culminated in his amazing, gravity-defying, one-handed finish in the corner. He then had the pluck to kick the penalty from miles out that pierced the Murrayfield jungle atmosphere and left the All Blacks winners.<\/p>\n World Rugby rankings: Springboks and All Blacks battle for top spot while mouth-watering weekend set to impact Rugby World Cup<\/a><\/p>\n Gregor Brown<\/p>\n The raw back five forward hasn\u2019t played all that much rugby yet in his career with Glasgow, but the 24-year-old again highlighted he is quickly becoming a real Test-level deal with the way he got stuck in against the All Blacks.<\/p>\n He topped his team\u2019s tackle count with Sione Tuipulotu with his energetic effort, helping to ensure his team stayed alive when it seemed as if they would roll over in the first half.<\/p>\n He also assisted in a reliable lineout operation and can feel immensely pleased that his involvement in the early second-half maul try was the firework that ignited Scotland<\/a> and had the Kiwis creaking. A class act.<\/p>\n Kudos too for Jack Dempsey, the back-rower who kept on trucking when the Scots looked like they could collapse, with Blair Kinghorn the pick of their backs.<\/p>\n Peter Lakai<\/p>\n After being glued to the first half we were all set to sing the praises of Wallace Sititi, the 23-year-old who was last year crowned World Rugby\u2019s men\u2019s young player of the year. Despite knee and ankle issues this year, his opening half against the Scots, now that he is fully fit and firing, was relentless.<\/p>\n Sititi made a chart-topping 10 carries, including that sumptuous show of wheels where he left Darcy Graham for dead and gave Will Jordan the try assist. But he was also excellent on defence, with one hold-up over the try line particularly eye-catching.<\/p>\n However, his needless yellow card on 61 minutes for a deliberate knock-on blotted his gold starred copybook and had us appreciating all the more the efforts of Lakai, his fellow back-rower.<\/p>\n His contribution on both sides of the ball throughout was excellent, but it was his tackling that stood out amid the Scottish fightback. Without him, Josh Lord and Fabian Holland standing up and being counted, the outcome could have been a historic first-ever Scotland win over the All Blacks.<\/p>\n Why World Rugby prevented Nigel Owens from speaking about Tadhg Beirne incident<\/a><\/p>\n Scottish defence<\/p>\n Scotland have never beaten the All Blacks but with their three most recent defeats coming by single-digit margins, there was great hope that the methods of the departed Steve Tandy would crossover with Lee Radford now at the wheel in that department.<\/p>\n There would have been concern that they were breached within just four minutes with Cam Roigard scoring for New Zealand, but the Scots\u2019 determination to put in a shift and make a real fist of it was obvious, none more so than in the passage of play defending their line 20-plus minutes in the game.<\/p>\n It was a perfect example of how on-field exploits can make a crowd invest in what you are doing, and Scotland\u2019s defence definitely did that with the defiant way they defended their line at that time.<\/p>\n They did go on to reach the break 0-17 behind, but the defence didn\u2019t completely fold, and it allowed them to go on and ignite that memorable second-half comeback. In the end, it was another single-digit defeat, but it could have been way worse but for the refusal to totally bend.<\/p>\n Losers\u00a0<\/p>\n All Blacks indiscipline<\/p>\n