The world is catching up to us, says ‘satisfied’ All Blacks coach

News flash New Zealand: the rest of the rugby world is catching up, and sometimes you need to be satisfied with an All Blacks victory of any kind.

That was the gist of the reaction from head coach Steve Hansen to his side’s knife-edge 22-17 victory over Scotland at Murrayfield yesterday. It was a win that also came at a cost, with lock Luke Romano out for next weekend’s year-ender in Cardiff with plantar fascia problems, and standout wing Rieko Ioane in some doubt with a shoulder issue.

But Hansen was very much taking the glass half-full view of a less than convincing performance from his side in which the fired-up Scot managed to put them under a lot more pressure than anyone expected.

Yes, the All Blacks made very hard work of their second test victory on this tour but Hansen was rapt with the way his men, having painted themselves into somewhat of a corner, managed to find a way home.

‘‘I was pretty satisfied,’’ he said when asked if he was relieved. ‘‘I thought it was a great game of football, I thought Scotland really stood up and were counted and, in return, so did we.

‘‘Test matches are called test matches because they’re a test of your mental resolve and skill. Both teams contributed to a fine match, and we’re happy because we came out on top. There are a few things we have got to get better at, no doubt, but we expected what we got because Scotland have been slowly improving the last 12-18 months, and that was a pretty impressive performance.’’

Hansen dished up some perspective when asked if it was the sort of All Blacks result that New Zealanders have to learn to accept in a changing international landscape.

‘‘We don’t have too many choices about accepting it because it’s a fact,’’ he replied. ‘‘Do they understand [Scotland] is a good team? Some will and some won’t.

‘‘They’re a team on the rise, and world rugby at the moment has some good teams which is exciting. We’ve just seen England tip over Australia down there in a tight game ... Fiji just about tipped over Ireland, and Scotland could easily have won tonight. Rugby is in a good place.

‘‘Everyone back home was telling us how they were getting bored with us being dominant,’’ Hansen said. ‘‘Well, they’ll have to go away and have a cup of tea and think about that.’’