All Blacks are the best in the world, so bring it on

team we’ve never beaten, well, that’s one for the coaches to ponder. Because they won’t have enough on their minds over the coming days.

They may choose to focus, in public, on the six tries scored in Saturday’s barmy game at Murrayfield; if you ever wondered what a hybrid between rugby union and basketball would look like, watch the final 20 minutes of this one again.

But the concession of five touchdowns, a fault directly linked to continuing problems at the restart, did more than just bring back nerve-jangling memories of that World Cup squeaker in Newcastle two years earlier.

There can’t have been many in a packed Murrayfield who didn’t watch that zany closing spell without wondering how the All Blacks would punish such slovenly Scottish defending. The good news, ironically, is that so many of the mistakes involved basic skills. They’re easily sharpened ahead of only the second international of the season.

Hogg, who very nearly set the tone for a thumping win when he scored after just 93 seconds, capitalising on a good bounce from Tommy Seymour’s kick-on, insisted: ‘We never thought it was going to be easy after that early try.

‘On another day, that ball would have bounced elsewhere instead of right into my hands.

‘We knew Samoa would come here with absolutely nothing to lose, chuck the ball about and have some fun.

‘For us, our basic skills let us down at times. That’s our catch-pass, our numbers to breakdown, width and depth on the ball — all these little areas we work incredibly hard on during the week didn’t come off at times.

‘We pulled the boys in just before half-time and said we needed to go back to basics. Off the back of that chat, we scored two cracking tries. You could see that, when we get the basic things right, we’re a very good team. We’re fully aware of

what the All Blacks are capable of. We just have to be fully focused on ourselves and getting our game plan spot on. We need to get all these little basic things right. That’s half the battle.’

Hogg played against New Zealand at Murrayfield back in 2014, when the Scots trailed by just a point until seven minutes from time. In case you don’t remember, the visitors scored a heartbreaking try with the clock ticking over, eventually running out 24-16 winners.

‘We were about ten or 15 minutes away from winning that game,’ declared Hogg, delivering a refrain familiar to all who have seen the Kiwis kill off even the bravest of opponents. Looking at how Scotland played against Samoa, there may not be a lead big enough and comfortable enough for Townsend heading into the closing stages this Saturday.

Yet the cutting edge intended to become the hallmark of this Scotland team still looked pretty sharp. And, despite Hogg’s right and proper emphasis on fixing the basics, the full-back remains one of those players capable of breaking any line. Whatever the colour of jersey in opposition.

The 25-year-old joined the likes of Gavin Hastings, Alan Tait and Townsend himself in joint fourth on the Scottish try-scoring charts with his early score at the weekend.

‘I wasn’t aware of that,’ said the Warriors star, back from shoulder surgery looking as good as ever. ‘It’s pretty cool, though. I was just right place, right time for that try.

‘I feel good. I worked incredibly hard in the off season to come back fit. There are still a few areas I need to work on.’

After an unnecessarily narrow win, there was ample talk of room for improvement. That could come on Saturday but even if Scotland reached another level of performance, it remains to be seen if even that would be enough to get over the New Zealand-built brick wall that has thwarted them since the first days of international rugby.

Perhaps they just need to invest in some shades. Blinkers, even. Anything to avoid being blinded by the All Blacks brand.