Kieran Read led the charge with 13 ball carries and 17 tackles. Photo / Getty Images
Tracey Nelson is the stats guru for haka.co.nz and will provide statistical analysis of the All Blacks' matches during their end of year tour.
It's going to be at least 106 years before Scotland get a chance to beat the All Blacks after failing to even score a solitary try in the 49-3 demolition at Murrayfield on Sunday.
No doubt spurred on by their lack of finishing and high error rate against England last
week, the All Blacks meant business this week and had four converted tries on the board by half time.
All seven All Black tries went to the backline this week, with Hosea Gear and Mils Muliaina both scoring a brace. It was a fitting way for Muliaina to celebrate equalling Sean Fitzpatrick's All Black test appearance record and his first ever test match against Scotland.
The ability of Sonny Bill Williams to offload in the tackle played a part in three of the All Black tries, perhaps the best coming just after the half time break with a swift elbow flick sending the ball to Mils Muliaina to give him a clear run down the sideline to go over for his second try.
The men up front weren't just making up the numbers either. Richie McCaw (also equalling Fitzpatrick's record) still managed to top the stats for arrivals at the breakdown (27) along with completing 10 tackles plus one assist - despite only playing 60 minutes this week.
Kieran Read led the charge when it came to his 13 ball carries and 17 tackles. Sam Whitelock showed that last week wasn't just a one-off, equalling McCaw's efforts at the breakdown and also putting in 14 tackles and 6 assists.
Conrad Smith continued to show why he is such an integral part of the All Blacks' defensive arsenal making 16 tackles, while Isaia Toeava was most proficient across the advantage line with three line-breaks.
An improvement in ball control and retention saw the All Blacks turn over possession just 14 times this week, in the process cutting handling errors down to 6 compared with the 13 last week.
However, there must be some concern that the penalty count is consistently higher against the All Blacks than their opposition as has continued to be the norm all this season. The All Blacks conceded 12 penalties to Scotland's 6, and again were heavily penalised on the opposition's scrum feeds - 4 this week to go with the 5 last week.
Heroes: While McCaw, Read and Whitelock all deserve mention, my hero this week is Sonny Bill Williams. The off-loads were the highly visible part of his game, but his ability to execute the set move plus his high workrate that saw him attend 18 breakdowns and make 10 tackles just puts him slightly ahead of his team mates.
Villains: The All Blacks for not giving more ball to Hosea Gear, who was consistently beating his man in the first half and made two clean line-breaks.
Dan Carter managed to bag 15 points including a try in his 60 minutes, and is now only 22 points behind Jonny Wilkinson's all time test points record.
In depth game stats can be found at Haka.co.nz.
- Herald online
