SCOTLAND

15. Stuart Hogg: 7
He had a great attacking game but he was poor under the high ball – both New Zealand’s kicks and his own. Needs to improve on this area of his game.

14. Sean Maitland 6.5
He didn’t get his hands on the ball as much as he would have liked, but his defence when things came down his wing was pretty good.

13. Mark Bennett: 6
Played 10 minutes before coming off injured. Didn’t get a chance to do anything meaningful.

12. Alex Dunbar: 6.5
Solid in defence bar the crucial missed tackle on Victor Vito that led to his try. Would love to see him given more ball in a broken field.

11. Tommy Seymour: 8
King of the intercept? Read Richie McCaw’s pass beautifully for the try and he looked dangerous all game. Defence has come on leaps and bounds.

10. Finn Russell: 6.5
Not as impressive as last week but his tactical kicking was spot on again. Took everything that New Zealand threw at him in his stride.

9. Greig Laidlaw: 6.5
Again, not as impressive as last week but he still performed well. His kicking out of hand and off the tee was near perfect and his defence was spot on.

1. Alasdair Dickinson: 7
He was the cornerstone of a steady scrum and he performed admirably in the loose. That’s all you can ask for.

2. Ross Ford: 6.5
Still has a baffling inability to hook – quite an important component in being a hooker. Everything else was ok though.

3. Euan Murray: 6
Burnt himself out after about 20 minutes, but for those 20 minutes he was like a man possessed, just looking to bury anyone in a black shirt.

4. Richie Gray: 8
He was an absolute menace in the lineout and his defence was as heroic as it always has been. He was relied upon a bit too much in attack, but that’s not his fault.

5. Jonny Gray: 9
Man of the match by a country mile. He made more tackles than anyone else on either team, carried hard and everything went right for him.

6. Rob Harley: 7.5
Harley was another player who threw himself around like a man possessed. Did virtually nothing in attack but defensively he was nearly always the first man there.

7. Blair Cowan: 7
Predominantly used as a crash ball option and while he didn’t make many yards, he set up a good platform. Tackling was top notch in another encouraging display.

8. Adam Ashe: 7.5
Another player who terrorised the Kiwis at lineout time. His carrying and tackling were on form and the 21-year-old seemed undaunted by his opponents.

Replacements: 6
Sean Lamont is not the player you want coming on after 10 minutes against New Zealand but the centre played well, making his tackles and carrying hard. There was a visible shift in power though once the front row subs came on, and I was unaware Dave Denton had actually entered the fray. Johnnie Beattie was solid and Duncan Weir and Chris Cusiter did what they needed to do without too many problems.

NEW ZEALAND

15. Ben Smith: 6.5
Received good ball but Scotland did well to shut him down before he could get going. Solid as ever under the high ball.

14. Charles Piutau: 7.5
A great attacking player who looked dangerous every time he had ball in hand. On a different day he probably would have scored.

13. Malakai Fekitoa: 6.5
Showed flashes of brilliance but not regularly enough to worry Scotland. Solid in defence, though, and hit nice lines in attack.

12. Ryan Crotty: 5
Missed a couple of important tackles and he struggled to impose himself in the game. Looked a bit lost at times.

11. Colin Slade: 6
We can chalk this up as an experiment that failed. Defensively he was sound but he made four runs for a grand total of 13 metres. Not exactly Julian Savea-esque.

10. Dan Carter: 4.5
I can’t believe I’m writing this but Carter had a shocker. His kicking was off and his handling was atrocious. Everyone has off days though.

9. TJ Perenara: 5.5
His box kicks were slow and laboured and on more than one occasion he sniped at the wrong time and hit a Scottish wall. Decision making far from superb.

1. Joe Moody: 7
He was impressive at scrum time and he did nothing wrong in open play. A more than able replacement for Wyatt Crockett.

2. James Parsons: 5
His All Blacks stock has had quite a rise these last few weeks, but making your debut in Scotland after just one week with the squad was a step too far. His throwing was poor.

3. Charlie Faumuina: 7
Carried a fair few times and made a good amount of tackles. Like Moody he more than held his own in the scrum. Awesome beard.

4. Jeremy Thrush: 8.5
It was deserving that he got the match-winning try as he was the best player in a black jersey. Reached double figures with his tackles and made some telling carries.

5. Dominic Bird: 6
He was under immense pressure at the lineout thanks to the Gray brothers and thus he struggled to get into the game.

6. Richie McCaw: 6.5
He’s not a blindside but that didn’t stop him pilfering a ridiculous amount of ball. Threw the intercept pass that led to Seymour’s try though and his handling was sloppy throughout.

7. Sam Cane: 6.5
Looked pretty decent and stole quite a bit of ball. Probably McCaw’s replacement when the time comes but until then he’ll just have to play a bit part.

8. Victor Vito: 8
Had to come off with a calf injury which is just as well for Scotland as he was looking impressive. Finished off his try well.

Replacements: 7
Pretty much all the replacements made a telling impact on the game. The front row changed the dynamic at scrum time and Savea and Sonny Bill both looked dangerous when they got the ball. It’s nice to have that kind of talent on the bench.

By Calum Gillon (@C_Gillon)

Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images