All Blacks complete Grand Slam

New Zealand rounded off a memorable year and a Grand Slam of wins over the four unions of the British Isles with a 29-10 defeat of Scotland at Murrayfield this afternoon.

After demolition jobs on Wales and Ireland and a gutsy win over England at Twickenham last weekend, Graham Henry's squad head home with their credentials as the world's best side unquestioned and their place in history assured.

They are only the second New Zealand team to complete the Grand Slam and they have emulated their 1978 predecessors in a year that also saw them win all three of Tests in a home series against the British and Irish Lions.

In 12 Tests during 2005, Henry's men lost only once, to South
Africa in Cape Town in August, and that setback did not prevent them from bouncing back to claim the Tri-Nations title.

Understandably, there was more than a hint of weariness about the performance at Murrayfield, particularly as they were pinned back for long periods in the second half.

It was not until winger Rico Gear touched down for his second try of the afternoon, five minutes from the end, that they managed to add to their 22-3 half-time lead.

But Henry's tour objective of developing a core of players for the 2007 World Cup was well-served, notably by an assured debut from teenager Isaia Toeava at full-back and the contribution of fly-half Nick Evans, who provided 12 points including a well-taken try.

As the weakest of the four sides the All Blacks have faced this  month, Scotland were never likely to spoil the party in what may have been New Zealand captain Tana Umaga's final outing in the famous shirt.

The Scots put the first points on the board courtesy of a Chris
Paterson penalty after flanker Angus MacDonald strayed offside.

But they found themselves under immediate pressure from the restart. Scrum-half Piri Weepu's angled grubber kick allowed Rico Gear to register their first score, the television umpire confirming that the winger had got his hands on the ball at full-stretch in the right-hand corner.

The same official denied Scotland a possible pushover try after a brief flurry of encouraging pressure.

But it was soon business as usual for the All Blacks, a demonstration of their unrivalled recycling of possession ended with Nick Evans breaking through to register his first Test try under the posts.

Scotland's cause was not helped by the loss of scrum-half Chris Cusiter to injury with barely 20 minutes gone and New Zealand were able to extend their lead further when his replacement, Mike Blair, was penalised for not releasing under his own posts.
  
Evans slotted that one over and was then the architect of his side's third try. After starting the move with a 50-yard breakout following a lineout yards from his own line, the fly-half exposed the Scots with a chip into the arms of Isaia Toeava.

The full-back's pass inside was never gathered by James Ryan but the juggling lock's third touched popped the ball up into the path of Sione Lauaki and the number eight powered over for a try that Evans converted.

Scotland's best period of the match came after the restart, the highlight provided by Sean Lamont's thrilling 80-yard breakout from under his own posts.

The Northampton winger was denied a memorable try only by
Umaga's perfectly-timed tackle that may have been his last significant act of an illustrious All Black career.

After Gear had extended New Zealand's lead, Scotland's second-half fight-back was finally rewarded when Simon Webster touched down with a minute left.