Scotland beaten by New Zealand at Murrayfield in Nations Championship on 7 November 2026 despite Ewan Ashman hat-trick

Scotland were defeated by New Zealand at Murrayfield in the Nations Championship on 7 November 2026, despite hooker Ewan Ashman scoring a first-half hat-trick; New Zealand ran in seven tries and extended their advantage after the interval.

Scotland scored three of the seven first-half tries, two of Ashman’s scores coming from lineouts and one from open play, but the hosts failed to register any points in the second half as the All Blacks pulled away. The match featured multiple attacking lineouts from penalties to the corner — six of the seven first-half tries came from such situations, four directly from subsequent mauls — and yellow cards for Peter Lakai and Wallace Sititi in the first period.

Ashman’s second try followed a penalty to the corner after Lakai’s yellow card; Huw Jones was held up before Kyle Steyn and Kyle Rowe made breaks on opposite wings and Ashman ran a fine line off Ben White’s pass to score. Two of Ashman’s hat-trick came from Scotland lineouts executed under pressure, reflecting the prominence of the set-piece drives in the opening exchanges.

New Zealand opened their scoring from an attacking lineout and then extended the lead through varied play: their second try came after interplay down the left between Tupou Vaa’i and Josh Moorby, with Cam Roigard taking a tap penalty and Ethan de Groot driving over from close range. Their fourth was created from an attacking lineout spun wide, with the move finished by Beauden Barrett following Samisoni Taukei’aho-style drives round the fringes; Barrett accounted for 19 unanswered points in the second half.

The All Blacks pulled further clear in the third quarter, opting to scrum an attacking penalty and converting that set piece into a try when Scott Barrett’s long pass found Moorby for a straightforward score. Scotland were unable to reply after the interval and Murrayfield fell largely silent as New Zealand completed a seventh try in the final quarter when Asafo Aumua finished from a long throw and Lakai’s clever loop.

Scotland’s matchday XV and replacements were: Rowe (Kinghorn 52); Steyn, Jones, Tuipulotu (capt), Dobie; Russell (Jordan 63), White (Horne 63); Sutherland (Schoeman 32), Ashman (Hiddleston 66), Z Fagerson (Hurd 66), Brown, Cummings, M Fagerson (Bayliss 63), Dempsey (Williamson 52). Tries: Ashman 3. Conversions: Russell 3.

New Zealand’s line-up and scorers were reported as: B Barrett; Jordan (Ioane 53), Tupaea, J Barrett (Tavatanawai 66), Moorby; McKenzie, Roigard (Ratima 61); De Groot (Bower 50), Taylor (capt; Aumua 56), Newell (Tosi 63), S Barrett, Holland, Vaa’i (Lio-Willie 72), Lakai, Sititi (Segner 56). Tries: Sititi, De Groot, Taylor, B Barrett 2, Moorby, Aumua. Conversions: McKenzie 4. Yellow cards: Lakai 24, Sititi 32.

Elsewhere in the Nations Championship, South Africa beat an injury-hit Italy 66-7 in Turin; fly-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu scored the first of nine Springbok tries and added another 21 points from the boot in a perfect kicking display, with Malcolm Marx crossing twice and Wilco Louw scoring after the break, Federico Ruzza replying for Italy before Ethan Hooker finished the scoring on the stroke of full time. South Africa had claimed maximum points from their three July fixtures and were top of the Southern Hemisphere group on points difference ahead of New Zealand.

The report noted that, at this stage in the competition, the All Blacks and the Springboks sit well clear of their southern rivals: "Four wins out of four; four bonus points out of four. Two rounds of round-robin to play."