'Wasn't perfect': Scott Robertson pleased with victory against Scotland

It took a late attacking clinic from Damian McKenzie for the All Blacks to overcome a spirited Scotland side, 25-17, at Murrayfield this morning.

McKenzie came off the bench during the second half when winger Caleb Clarke went off for an HIA, before his 50/22 gave the All Blacks a chance at the line with less than ten minutes to go.

The Chiefs first-five then sealed the game, with an incredible try in the corner, dodging a couple of defenders and the sideline to give the All Blacks the victory.

But at times during the match, Scott Robertson’s side were their own worst enemies, spending 30 minutes of the game down to 14 men due to ill-discipline and yellow cards.

Robertson, whose side are now two wins from two on the end-of-year Grand Slam tour, was full of praise for his replacement playmaker.

“He [McKenzie] was pretty handy, player of the day in 20 odd minutes,” Robertson told media post-match.

“He’s clutch, and he’s pretty mercurial. He can kick a 50/22, score a try and that penalty, so you still got to be creative and we were pretty clear what we needed to do.

“You know he’s going to inject something and he did that and his timing and his skill set. Like he’s little but he’s tough, and he trusts himself so we were pleased.”

When asked about the composure of his players at Murrayfield, Robertson explains that they could have easily fell apart on multiple occasions, but they stayed in the fight.

“Couple yellow cards, like your playing with 14 men defending, like there was some amazing efforts on defence,  wasn’t there?

“Like, we were so proud of that and we could have just rolled over and gave up on one of the efforts, but we didn’t.

“We stayed in it for such long periods of time, and when we needed to turn it over then we’re really, really proud of there’s a lot of care in the jersey.

“You know, it wasn’t perfect, our execution wasn’t perfect, we could have put them away and could have been 30 points, but we were tough, and that’s what we’re really proud of.”

Once again the All Blacks had some important performances in the forward pack, including young lock Josh Lord who was a huge part of that first try to Cameron Roigard.

For his locking partner Fabian Holland, it was another busy 80 minute performance with 16 tackles at Murrayfield.

“Just the engines, on them you know, from last week to this week, and they executed their role really well, was really pleased, and they’ll be better for that,” Robertson said.