A couple of days ago, I posed the question whether Scotland were cheating their fans by fielding a second-string side against the New Zealand at Murrayfield.

The All Blacks (mainly silver with a bit of black on the day) answered in kind by putting out their strongest side - or arguably the strongest individual team on the planet. In other words, they paid the Scots the ultimate respect and then had the kindness to beat Frank Hadden’s minnow squad by a mere 40 points to nil.

What a pity that respect was unilateral, because the All Blacks were also entitled to take on the very best 15 their opponents could muster.

'The All Blacks were entitled to take on the very best 15 their opponents could muster'


Coach Hadden’s logic was that next weekend's qualification decider against Italy was much more important - and that New Zealand were going to win whatever side he put out. In that case, Frank, what was the sense in the All Blacks fielding their best players for a formality victory when they have to face the best teams on earth over the next four weeks?

OK, the cream of the All Blacks squad have been a little short of action recently, so one might argue that the Scotland game provided valuable match practice. But why risk unnecessary injuries to key players - particularly in Achilles heel areas like the second row?

In the event, Scotland’s stiffs put on a commendable show of resistance, albeit with the benefit of more New Zealand errors than I have seen for a long time.

To see a player of the quality of Sitiveni Sivavatu dropping a straightforward pass is a rarity - but for him to do it twice was simply unbelievable. But the biggest mystery is how New Zealand's normally scintillating backs, despite playing behind a totally dominant pack, only managed to score four tries - two from flying wing Doug Howlett and one apiece for half-backs Byron Kelleher and Dan Carter. Skipper Richie McCaw and lock Ali Williams got the others - the giant Williams stretching 15 feet (or so it seemed) after being tackled to ground the ball over the line.

For all that, Scotland’s performance was significantly better than England’s in their 36-0 humbling by the Springboks. But that’s not saying much, really.

Certainly Hadden felt his team selection was vindicated by what he called ‘’a gutsy performance‘’ - even if the 64,500 Murrayfield crowd had precious little to crow about other than some gritty defence by their bit-part heroes.

‘’Personally I don't think this was a gamble,’’ he said. ‘’What it did was provide an excellent opportunity for some guys to put their hands up for selection. I'm delighted that I've got a team that can practise tomorrow.’’

Hadden’s main grouse is the format of Pool C, which forced Scotland to play a third game in 11 days and consequently a weakened side against New Zealand. ‘’I'm not in a position to influence the format,’’ he said. ‘’We have to do what we have to do to go as far as we can in this tournament.’’

Meanwhile, All Blacks coach Graham Henry said: "We are pretty happy really. We had a big week on the set pieces and it came through well. I think we scrummed the best we have in the tournament, which is a pleasing aspect. Our lineout went pretty well and our defence was OK."

The problem was the number of times that passes were dropped or thrown forward at key moments - otherwise the Kiwis could easily have had 20 more points.

I watched the game on TV and, like fellow viewers and the commentators, was mystified why the teams had to come up with jerseys that clashed. Dark blue and black look almost identical on the box - and when both kits also feature white flashes, it’s hard to tell them apart. They even wore what looked like identical shorts and socks - so what was all that pre-match stuff we were told about Scotland playing in blue jerseys and New Zealand in silver?

Still, ultimately rugby was the winner, as ever. At times I found myself briefly changing channels for the latest score in the Manchester United v Chelsea game…and thought my screen had gone into slow motion.

Try it some time. There may be more stoppages in rugby but when the action is in full flow, the round-ball game can’t touch it for REAL movement.

Samoa captain Brian Lima, the man they call 'The Chiropracter' for his bone-crunching tackles, has been cited for a dangerous tackle on England’s Jonny Wilkinson during Saturday's Pool A clash in Nantes.

Lima, 35, the only player to play in five World Cups, faces a disciplinary hearing on Monday which could bring his career to a premature end. He plans to retire after the tournament. The incident in question took place in the second half when Lima dived towards the prone Wilkinson - though he did not make major contact and the referee took no action.

Was Hadden right to put out a second-string squad? Post a comment below or submit an article to Sportingo.