Sione Tuipulotu ‘gutted’ as Scotland fightback not enough to see off New Zealand

Emotional Sione Tuipulotu lamented Scotland’s failure to convert an exhilarating second-half display into a famous Murrayfield victory as they went down to an agonising 25-17 defeat against New Zealand.

The Scots – chasing a first-ever win over the All Blacks – trailed 17-0 at the break after tries from Cam Roigard and Will Jordan, with the hosts twice held up over the line in the first half.

But Gregor Townsend’s side produced what captain Tuipulotu described as some of the best rugby he has ever been involved in as they roared back to make it 17-17 by the hour mark.

The skipper felt Murrayfield was “hovering” as Scotland’s supporters sensed glory after tries from Ewan Ashman and Kyle Steyn and a Finn Russell penalty levelled the match going into the final quarter.

But the All Blacks – who had three players yellow-carded – regained their composure in the closing stages, with a magnificent try and a long-range penalty from substitute Damian McKenzie taking the game away from the hosts, who have now failed to win this fixture in 33 attempts over 120 years.

“I’m gutted,” said Tuipulotu. “I know how much goes into a performance like that so I’m proud of the group. I don’t want to get up here and say ‘I’m proud of the group’ and ‘we played well’ because I think we’re a better team than that now.

“We showed in that game that we could have got what we wanted and what we came here to do today, and that’s win, so it’s a tough pill to swallow right now. Me and the group and the coaches are hurting.”

Tuipulotu felt the Scots were in prime position to deliver their first-ever win over the All Blacks before McKenzie’s heroics settled the match in the closing stages.

“At 17-all, when Finn kicked the penalty, I could truly say it felt like the stadium was hovering there,” said the Glasgow centre, who appeared to be holding back tears.

“I felt like the momentum shift that happened around 45-50 minutes was probably one of the biggest that I’ve ever seen in a game I’ve played. The rugby we were playing there in that block of 20 minutes, it felt pretty close to inevitable (that Scotland were going to win).

“The way we were moving the ball and getting to contacts and wide breakdowns, and putting them under pressure and forcing their discipline, dragging a few yellow cards.

“I felt like that period there was some of the best rugby that I’ve been a part of when I’ve been playing for Scotland. When the scoreline was 17-all, I thought maybe we could have stayed a little bit more aggressive.

“That was what was working but we’ll have to look back at that now. It’s tough to talk about the game now, the emotions are so high, but we’ll have a look over that over the next couple of days.”

Tuipulotu praised Scotland’s ability to drag themselves “out of a hole” but acknowledged they need to try to replicate the level of performance they delivered in the third quarter more often.

“We need to find a way to try and get more of that in an 80-minute game,” he said. “I think that’s the main takeaway of today.”