KEY POINTS:
Wayne Barnes missed a forward pass, sinbinned another All Black, and New Zealand were again on the wrong end of the penalty count.
But that's where the uncomfortable sense of deja-vu with last year's World Cup quarter-final ended.
The English referee's officiating of an All Blacks' test for
the first time since that controversial 20-18 loss to France in Cardiff 13 months ago was always going to guarantee an intriguing sub plot.
Barnes' influence on the 2007 outcome at Millennium Stadium - and the subsequent public reaction in New Zealand - has a permanent place in rugby folklore.
The yellow carding of Luke McAlister, a 10-2 penalty count in favour of the French, and the failure to detect a forward pass in the build-up to the winning try saw Barnes vilified post-match.
Those elements were all evident yesterday, but it was the turn of the Scots to feel aggrieved, while the All Blacks were publicly satisfied with Barnes' performance.
The 29-year-old sinbinned Scottish second five-eighths Nick De Luca for illegally kicking a ball from a ruck in just the third minute - though moments before a pass from Isaia Toeava towards Kieran Read had clearly travelled forward.
Barnes produced a second yellow in the 31st minute to sinbin All Blacks lock Anthony Boric for a ruck infringement - a decision the player and team management could not argue was unjustified. Boric's temporary suspension placed New Zealand under extreme pressure deep inside their territory for seven minutes - a period in which the Scots believe Barnes was far too lenient on the All Blacks front row.
Several scrums were reset, principally when debutant loosehead Jamie Mackintosh lost his footing on a greasy surface as his adversary Euan Murray ensured the Southlander's first test was no stroll in the park.
Scottish coach Frank Hadden and captain Mike Blair later accused the All Blacks of deliberately collapsing the set piece to slow down play during Boric's absence.
"Everybody's aware as soon as we got the pressure on, the scrummage was being brought down," Hadden said.
"We had the domination but we didn't manage to capitalise on that advantage for one reason or another.
"We certainly felt when we got the hit on they were struggling to cope with that pressure."
Hadden agreed Barnes faced a difficult task when the set piece caved in, but the coach was clearly frustrated at his side's inability to benefit when engaging a seven-man scrum.
Halfback Blair echoed his coach's disappointment after Boric departed: "We tried to capitalise on that [resulting penalty] by taking the scrum.
"I think 7 1/2 minutes later we were still scrummaging. There was reset after reset and that kind of took the sting out of the game a wee bit.
"We were trying to push the momentum and capitalise on their sinbinning," he said, suggesting the All Blacks cynically implemented delaying tactics.
"I don't know if it was a particular ploy they have with the scrums when a guy's sinbinned to do that ... but it was frustrating because from that period of pressure we couldn't capitalise."
All Blacks coach Graham Henry bristled at the accusation his side deliberately muddled the set piece.
"We don't take down the scrums, we try very hard to keep them up," he said.
Meanwhile, Henry was concerned at his team conceding 10 penalties and said discipline would have to be addressed before next week's test against Ireland in Dublin.
"We gave far too many penalties away," he said, before emphasising he had no issue with Barnes' decisions.
"I don't think it's got anything to do with the referee. We just need to look at what we're doing and fix that part of the game. We gave away seven penalties last week, we gave 10 away tonight."
- NZPA
