Scotland came close to ending their interminable wait for a first victory over the mighty All Blacks with a stirring performance at BT Murrayfield. But, once again, the cold fact is they failed to exploit a New Zealand off-day and lost. The tourists were a pale shadow of the World Cup winners, unsurprisingly after coach Steve Hansen made 13 changes to the side who beat England last week. Combinations lacked rhythm, balls were frequently lost from hand and in contact, and twin legends Richie McCaw and Dan Carter coughed up a bizarre amount of possession between them in the first half. VIDEOS Scroll down to watch post-match reaction from both nations . All Blacks No 8 Victor Vito busts through the Scotland defence and towards the try line . Despite a spirited chase and attempt to pull him up short Vito gets his left arm free to score the opening try of the match . Scotland: Hogg, Maitland, Bennett, Dunbar, Seymour, Russell, Laidlaw (c); Dickinson, Ford, Murray, Gray, Gray, Harley, Cowan, Ashe. Replacements: Brown, Reid, Cross, Swinson, Beattie, Cusiter, Weir, Lamont. Try: Seymour Conversion: Laidlaw . Penalties: Laidlaw (3) New Zealand: Smith, Slade, Fekitoa, Crotty, Piutau, Carter, Perenara; Moody, Parsons, Faumuina, Thrush, Bird, McCaw (captain), Cane, Vito. Replacements: Coles, Crockett, Franks, Romano, Messam, Pulu, Williams, Savea. Tries: Vito, Thrush Conversions: Slade . Penalties: Carter (3), Slade . SCOTLAND . 127           (16) 97 . 246 . 4 . 15 . 24 . 17 . 10 . 4/7 . 7/7 . 72/75 . 45% . 39% . Tackles (missed) Carries . Metres . Clean Breaks . Offloads . Kicks (hand) Turnovers . Pens against . Scrums won . Lineouts won . Rucks Won . Possession . Territory . NZ . 86            (11) 124 . 456 . 8 . 10 . 26 . 18 . 7 . 7/7 . 10/13 . 91/97 . 55% . 61% . Indeed, Scotland had several of the game’s top performers. Their back row of Rob Harley, Blair Cowan, Adam Ashe, Richie and Jonny Gray impressed, as did fly-half Finn Russell, until his injury-enforced replacement. However, crucially, for all the unstinting effort and ambition they showed, the Scots also lacked the cohesion to turn possession into the necessary points. After a towering display in the win over Argentina, captain Greig Laidlaw was left wondering ‘what if’ as he sent a penalty wide with just 10 minutes remaining that would have put Scotland 18-17 ahead. New Zealand were rattled but, minutes later, they responded quickly with a try from lock Jeremy Thrush to seal their victory. The game started at a furious pace. Ross Ford continued where he left off last week with accurate line-outs and Jonny Gray’s varying of the receiver perplexed the All Blacks. But, typical of the nature of the game, a big tackle by Russell and Harley on All Blacks debutant James Parsons lifted the crowd and led to a turnover and break by Richie Gray — but he was penalised in the ensuing ruck, only for Carter miss the target with his first penalty. Scotland's Tommy Seymour dives over for their opening try at Murrayfield . Scotland's Adam Ashe (left and Jonny Gray (right) celebrate Seymour's try . New Zealand did score first, though, when No 8 Victor Vito opened up Scotland’s defence by skipping out of Alex Dunbar’s tackle and punishing Stuart Hogg for going high by touching down. However, within three minutes of that try, Tommy Seymour intercepted a McCaw pass to Vito and sped away for Scotland’s first score. Laidlaw converted to put the Scots 7-5 ahead. Scotland then lost Mark Bennett to a hamstring injury and prop Euan Murray, in bristling form, followed. Seymour almost snatched another intercept before Carter goaled his first kick before making it two after the half-hour. With Russell varying Scotland’s attack well, the Grays towering over Thrush and McCaw in the line-out and Sean Lamont, Bennett’s . replacement, in fine form, the home team had plentiful ball. Laidlaw converted a penalty but Carter replied to send the All Blacks in at the interval 14-10 up. A backlash was expected from the tourists in the second half, but it was Scotland who started strongly with a fine attack from Hogg, Lamont and Seymour. The move was taken on by Sean Maitland, which brought a penalty. Laidlaw was successful with his kick to bring Scotland back to within a point of the All Blacks five minutes into the second half. All Black Ben Smith (right) flies highest after a bomb while Duncan Weir contests the ball for Scotland . Jeremy Thrush crosses for a late try that saw the All Blacks' slender one-point lead stretch to eight after Colin Slade's conversion . Man of the match Thrush celebrates his 74th-minute try . French referee Romain Poite then penalised a squint feed at the scrum by Laidlaw, infuriating the crowd as he had paid no attention to similar feeds from both sides in the first half, but still Scotland could not retain ball long enough to develop a consistency in attack. All Blacks coach Hansen began to off-load his experienced bench with four replacements in five minutes. They included Sonny Bill Williams for the subdued Malakai Fekitoa and Julian Savea for Carter, with Slade shifting to his accustomed stand-off berth. Their experience was obvious as blocking moves started to appear in their attack. Subtle, but illegal work in the maul and breakdown, raised the ire of Scots. But Scotland were not done. A fine tackle and turnover by Lamont set the attack on the front foot, Richie Gray steaming up the field and Johnnie Beattie showing stirring intent with a break minutes after replacing Ashe. However, New Zealand were intent on keeping Scotland penned deep in their own half and with ferocious defending — much of it from offside positions which Poite and his assistants seemed unable to see — the Scots could not escape. Scotland stand arm in  arms as the All Blacks deliver one of their intimidating hakas . The clock ticked past the hour mark with the score still 14-13 to New Zealand, and the pre-match optimism among Scotland fans was taking on a new tangible quality. Slade converted a penalty in the 65th minute to nudge the All Blacks into a four-point lead, but Laidlaw responded in kind from a ruck penalty won by Geoff Cross. And then Scotland had the chance to take the lead. After a superb line-out take by the impressive Harley and a fine run by Lamont, . Poite finally penalised New Zealand for offside. But Laidlaw struck his kick just wide of the upright from 15 metres in from the left touch. The game entered the final 10 minutes with the Murrayfield crowd roaring. But there seemed to be a hesitancy from the Scots, perhaps struggling to believe the chance to strike a historic first win over New Zealand was in their hands. The All Blacks then pounced. A slick pass from Sam Cane to Thrush sent the lock diving over, Slade converting to open up an eight-point, and winning lead.
New Zealand scored two tries to Scotland's one at Murrayfield in their Autumn International on Saturday .
Victor Vito and Jeremy Thrush crossed for the world champions while Tommy Seymour scored for the hosts .
Before the tight battle, the All Blacks had averaged winning margins of 31 points at Murrayfield since 2001 .
Scotland came close to ending their interminable wait for a first victory over the mighty All Blacks with a stirring performance at BT Murrayfield. But, once again, the cold fact is they failed to exploit a New Zealand off-day and lost. The tourists were a pale shadow of the World Cup winners, unsurprisingly after coach Steve Hansen made 13 changes to the side who beat England last week. Combinations lacked rhythm, balls were frequently lost from hand and in contact, and twin legends Richie McCaw and Dan Carter coughed up a bizarre amount of possession between them in the first half. VIDEOS Scroll down to watch post-match reaction from both nations . All Blacks No 8 Victor Vito busts through the Scotland defence and towards the try line . Despite a spirited chase and attempt to pull him up short Vito gets his left arm free to score the opening try of the match . Scotland: Hogg, Maitland, Bennett, Dunbar, Seymour, Russell, Laidlaw (c); Dickinson, Ford, Murray, Gray, Gray, Harley, Cowan, Ashe. Replacements: Brown, Reid, Cross, Swinson, Beattie, Cusiter, Weir, Lamont. Try: Seymour Conversion: Laidlaw . Penalties: Laidlaw (3) New Zealand: Smith, Slade, Fekitoa, Crotty, Piutau, Carter, Perenara; Moody, Parsons, Faumuina, Thrush, Bird, McCaw (captain), Cane, Vito. Replacements: Coles, Crockett, Franks, Romano, Messam, Pulu, Williams, Savea. Tries: Vito, Thrush Conversions: Slade . Penalties: Carter (3), Slade . SCOTLAND . 127 (16) 97 . 246 . 4 . 15 . 24 . 17 . 10 . 4/7 . 7/7 . 72/75 . 45% . 39% . Tackles (missed) Carries . Metres . Clean Breaks . Offloads . Kicks (hand) Turnovers . Pens against . Scrums won . Lineouts won . Rucks Won . Possession . Territory . NZ . 86            (11) 124 . 456 . 8 . 10 . 26 . 18 . 7 . 7/7 . 10/13 . 91/97 . 55% . 61% . Indeed, Scotland had several of the game’s top performers. Their back row of Rob Harley, Blair Cowan, Adam Ashe, Richie and Jonny Gray impressed, as did fly-half Finn Russell, until his injury-enforced replacement. However, crucially, for all the unstinting effort and ambition they showed, the Scots also lacked the cohesion to turn possession into the necessary points. After a towering display in the win over Argentina, captain Greig Laidlaw was left wondering ‘what if’ as he sent a penalty wide with just 10 minutes remaining that would have put Scotland 18-17 ahead. New Zealand were rattled but, minutes later, they responded quickly with a try from lock Jeremy Thrush to seal their victory. The game started at a furious pace. Ross Ford continued where he left off last week with accurate line-outs and Jonny Gray’s varying of the receiver perplexed the All Blacks. But, typical of the nature of the game, a big tackle by Russell and Harley on All Blacks debutant James Parsons lifted the crowd and led to a turnover and break by Richie Gray — but he was penalised in the ensuing ruck, only for Carter miss the target with his first penalty. Scotland's Tommy Seymour dives over for their opening try at Murrayfield . Scotland's Adam Ashe (left and Jonny Gray (right) celebrate Seymour's try . New Zealand did score first, though, when No 8 Victor Vito opened up Scotland’s defence by skipping out of Alex Dunbar’s tackle and punishing Stuart Hogg for going high by touching down. However, within three minutes of that try, Tommy Seymour intercepted a McCaw pass to Vito and sped away for Scotland’s first score. Laidlaw converted to put the Scots 7-5 ahead. Scotland then lost Mark Bennett to a hamstring injury and prop Euan Murray, in bristling form, followed. Seymour almost snatched another intercept before Carter goaled his first kick before making it two after the half-hour. With Russell varying Scotland’s attack well, the Grays towering over Thrush and McCaw in the line-out and Sean Lamont, Bennett’s . replacement, in fine form, the home team had plentiful ball. Laidlaw converted a penalty but Carter replied to send the All Blacks in at the interval 14-10 up. A backlash was expected from the tourists in the second half, but it was Scotland who started strongly with a fine attack from Hogg, Lamont and Seymour. The move was taken on by Sean Maitland, which brought a penalty. Laidlaw was successful with his kick to bring Scotland back to within a point of the All Blacks five minutes into the second half. All Black Ben Smith (right) flies highest after a bomb while Duncan Weir contests the ball for Scotland . Jeremy Thrush crosses for a late try that saw the All Blacks' slender one-point lead stretch to eight after Colin Slade's conversion . Man of the match Thrush celebrates his 74th-minute try . French referee Romain Poite then penalised a squint feed at the scrum by Laidlaw, infuriating the crowd as he had paid no attention to similar feeds from both sides in the first half, but still Scotland could not retain ball long enough to develop a consistency in attack. All Blacks coach Hansen began to off-load his experienced bench with four replacements in five minutes. They included Sonny Bill Williams for the subdued Malakai Fekitoa and Julian Savea for Carter, with Slade shifting to his accustomed stand-off berth. Their experience was obvious as blocking moves started to appear in their attack. Subtle, but illegal work in the maul and breakdown, raised the ire of Scots. But Scotland were not done. A fine tackle and turnover by Lamont set the attack on the front foot, Richie Gray steaming up the field and Johnnie Beattie showing stirring intent with a break minutes after replacing Ashe. However, New Zealand were intent on keeping Scotland penned deep in their own half and with ferocious defending — much of it from offside positions which Poite and his assistants seemed unable to see — the Scots could not escape. Scotland stand arm in  arms as the All Blacks deliver one of their intimidating hakas . The clock ticked past the hour mark with the score still 14-13 to New Zealand, and the pre-match optimism among Scotland fans was taking on a new tangible quality. Slade converted a penalty in the 65th minute to nudge the All Blacks into a four-point lead, but Laidlaw responded in kind from a ruck penalty won by Geoff Cross. And then Scotland had the chance to take the lead. After a superb line-out take by the impressive Harley and a fine run by Lamont, . Poite finally penalised New Zealand for offside. But Laidlaw struck his kick just wide of the upright from 15 metres in from the left touch. The game entered the final 10 minutes with the Murrayfield crowd roaring. But there seemed to be a hesitancy from the Scots, perhaps struggling to believe the chance to strike a historic first win over New Zealand was in their hands. The All Blacks then pounced. A slick pass from Sam Cane to Thrush sent the lock diving over, Slade converting to open up an eight-point, and winning lead.
nations . All Blacks No 8 Victor Vito busts Scotland's Tommy Seymour dives over for their opening try at Murrayfield . Scotland's Adam Ashe Scotland . Jeremy Thrush crosses for a late try intent on keeping Scotland penned deep in their All Blacks deliver one of their intimidating the score still 14-13 to New Zealand, and the