"We weren't proud" - Ardie Savea: All Blacks captain addresses discipline issues ahead of England clash

After being pushed to their very limits by a resolved Scotland side eager for their first ever men's Test win over the All Blacks, New Zealand prevailed 25-17 following a dramatic late try and subsequent penalty from replacement fly half Damian McKenzie. The Chiefs man bagged the pivotal points to take the All Blacks clear from Gregor Townsend's side, after fighting the majority of the match undermanned with just 14 players on the pitch.

Savea was himself one of the sin-binned players after illegally taking down a maul. While sidelined, he said he felt the pain of not being able to help his team, but remained proud of how the squad responded:

“But at the same time, you've got to come on and bring composure, energy, the right sort of energy the boys need. I'm proud of the boys. We could have gone either way, with the crowd in the background. We could either take a breath and move towards that pressure, with what the Scottish were bringing to us, or we could be calm and then nail our next moments, and next moments. I thought we did that towards the end.”

Despite leading 17-0 at half-time, Savea acknowledged as to how the All Blacks knew Scotland would mount a fight-back. The hosts managed to tie the Test up at 17-17 ahead of the closing seven minutes, before the late score from McKenzie secured a tense victory at Murrayfield. Savea admitted slip-ups occurred, that he hopes his side will avoid this Saturday at the Allianz Stadium in Twickenham.

“It's on us when we are in the lead like that to ask how we can be more ruthless because we weren't proud. In rugby, you're never satisfied, or we're never happy with a performance, but to come out of that… and the special occasion it was for Murrayfield, as All Blacks under the pressure we were, we're grateful and happy.”

Head coach Scott Robertson also addressed the bench’s contribution — particularly the 'clutch' impact of replacement full-back McKenzie

“You need someone that's clutch, and he's pretty mercurial." Robertson said. "He can kick a 50:22, score a try and kick that penalty. You know he's going to inject something, and he did with his timing and his skill set. He's tough, and he trusts himself. We're pleased he did it again, and over and over.

“But you've still got to create it. We went in at halftime, and we were pretty clear what we needed to do, but dropped the kickoff, and 20 minutes later, we were under a lot of pressure. It was a proper Test match.”

“There were some amazing efforts on defence. We could have just rolled over and given 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, [we did] and that's what we're really proud of. It wasn't perfect, the execution wasn't perfect.”

Robertson concluded that when the All Blacks held possession they looked good, and that the sustained momentum ultimately delivered the result:

“When we had the ball we looked good, we just wanted to get the ball back. We started with line-outs and then momentum came back our way. That's what got us home.”

The win keeps the All Blacks unbeaten in 33 Tests and 120 years against Scotland, but the discipline lapses underline pressing areas for improvement as they chase a Grand Slam on this tour. After a victory over Ireland in Chicago, and now the triumph over Scotland in Edinburgh, the All Blacks just have England and Wales to defeat to complete a stunning 'Grand Slam' across the Home Nations.