OH IT'S THE HOPE THAT THRILLS YOU

Toony’s left somewhere between pride & frustration as boys edge close to history

- STUART BATHGATE at MURRAYFIELD

GREGOR TOWNSEND declared pride topped frustration at seeing Scotland go so close to ending 120 years of blows by the All Blacks.

After a dismal first half ended with them trailing 17-0, the home side fought back to 17-17 with 20 minutes to go thanks to tries from Ewan Ashman and Kyle Steyn along with a Finn Russell penalty.

New Zealand, who had three men sent to the sin-bin during the 80 minutes, were on the ropes as Scotland hunted their first win over the games giants.

But they got back off them thanks to supersub Damian McKenzie, who got a try and a penalty in the dying minutes.

Head coach Townsend said: “There was a lot more pride than frustration.

“We needed to come back in terms of the scoreboard and how well New Zealand were playing - they were outstanding.

“But there was obviously frustration, probably more at 14-17 than 17-17.

“We had three chances to go ahead and that would have made a massive difference. They had one opportunity in the second half, they took it and the game changed massively.