Scotland got as close as they ever have to beating New Zealand for the first time in 109 years, but Jeremy Thrush’s late try won it for the All Blacks at BT Murrayfield.
The lock crashed over from close range to secure New Zealand’s win with six minutes left, just a few minutes after Greig Laidlaw had missed a penalty chance that would have had the Scots 19-17 ahead with ten minutes to play in a pulsating contest.
The scrum-half, usually so reliable off the tee, pulled his kick from a narrow angle across the posts after Scotland had soaked up pressure throughout the second-half and managed to stay just a point behind for the majority.
However the All Blacks survived that scare, and went up the pitch helped in part by what looked like a clear offside at a cross-kick and Thrush confirmed that this much-changed All Black side, despite a disjointed, mistake-filled display, would not be the first to lose to Scotland.
A capacity 66,004 crowd saw New Zealand take the lead in the first half only for a strangely hesitant display by the legendary Dan Carter and plenty of handling errors keeping Scotland in the game.
The 136-times capped fly-half, making his first start in a year, missed two early kicks, one of them a conversion after No 8 Victor Vito had taken advantage of a defender’s slip to take two Scots over the line with him.
But within three minutes Scotland had turned the game, as All Black skipper Richie McCaw served up an interception for wing Tommy Seymour, who sped away untouched to score under the posts, Laidlaw converting.
Carter found his kicking boots for three penalties before half-time to one from Laidlaw for a 10-14 scoreline at the break, but the fly-half struggled throughout and was eventually replaced early in the second half.
Scotland meanwhile lost centre Mark Bennett to injury and then crucially tight-head Euan Murray before half time, coming under increasing pressure in the scrums from then on.
However Scotland had a strong foothold in the lineout with the Gray brothers and were tackling and disrupting well, Rob Harley putting in a heroic shift in the back row.
Laidlaw landed two penalties to one from Colin Slade as the match headed towards the finale, when the scrum-half missed a golden chance to put the Scots back ahead.
Just four minutes later Charles Piutau was clearly offside as he chased a Slade cross-kick, but referee Romain Poite allowed play to continue and eventually Thrush went over after a series of phases close to the home line.