Tuipulotu takes 'full responsibility' for Scotland collapse

Published7 November 2026

Captain Sione Tuipulotu took responsibility for Scotland's second-half Nations Championship collapse against New Zealand, saying they were "nowhere near accurate enough".

Trailing by just three points at half-time, Scotland were well in the contest as they sought a first victory against the All Blacks at the 34th attempt.

However, they failed to score any points in the second half as New Zealand swept to a clinical 43-21 victory at Murrayfield.

Tuipulotu was sin-binned on 50 minutes after a succession of penalties went against the Scots and they were unable to wrestle back momentum from there.

"Disappointing," was Tuipulotu's one-word review post-match.

He added: "We played our rugby in the first half but we probably left points out there. We were nowhere near accurate enough second half, and we couldn't stick with them, it's really disappointing.

"Our discipline wasn't good enough, and it starts with me. I got sent to the bin and 10 minutes with your captain off isn't good for any team. I take full responsibility for that."

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Scotland conceded 13 penalties to New Zealand's eight. Just moments after Tuipulotu went to the bin, Beauden Barrett cruised over to score his second and New Zealand's sixth try of the day. Game over.

"First half we were playing our rugby, putting them under pressure with ball in hand, in a way they haven't been put under pressure over the past couple of weeks," Tuipulotu said.

"We just weren't accurate enough when we got down into the 22m. We had lots of opportunities in the first half and weren't accurate enough in the second.

"We know what we can do with ball in hand, which proves we weren't up to the level that the All Blacks were playing in the second half.

"It's a must-win game [against Australia] next week, we'll regroup and stick together like we always do."

In the first half, Scotland's maul and New Zealand's indiscipline kept the hosts in touch. After the interval, the All Blacks tightened up defensively and scored three magnificent tries.

"Scotland kept getting the wrong side of Andrew Brace with Sione Tuiputotu going to the sin-bin," former Scotland captain John Barclay said on STV.

"But the difference is red zone efficiency - when the team gets into the opposition 22m, how often do they score? New Zealand were at 58%, Scotland were at 30%.

"There's a couple moments in the second half where they manage to get down into the 22m, and they lost the ball first phase. It's that clinical edge."

All Blacks 'deserved the win, clearly'

There has long been a perception this Scotland team have the ability to beat anyone on their day, but that they fail to deliver 80-minute performances.

This was a classic of the genre and head coach Gregor Townsend says there is plenty of work to be done.

"We gave them too many opportunities with our discipline," Townsend said, echoing the verdict of his captain.

"The second half, we never got to build on the good work from the first half - largely, because we didn't have the ball. Sometimes we made errors, and then with the yellow card we were having to defend for a lot of that period.

"It was disappointing. Whenever I see this team prepare, I feel we've got a chance to beat anyone. I felt that today, and I felt it at half-time, but it didn't happen.

"Both sides of the ball, we've got to be harder to be broken down. Our defence was actually doing well. At times we were driving New Zealand back. But whether it was an offside, or an error around the breakdown, we were getting penalised and put into our 22m."

Scotland's Six Nations wins over Wales and England were followed by a shock defeat by Italy. They responded by beating France in a stunning display before finishing their campaign by losing against Ireland.

Last autumn, a narrower scoreline against New Zealand came just before a spectacular collapse against Argentina. They entertain and infuriate in equal measure.

Townsend's side welcome Australia and Japan to Murrayfield this month as they attempt to end their Nations Championship campaign on a high.

"I still feel the players we have and the way we set up to play, we should cause opposition problems," Townsend said.

"New Zealand had the nudge in the scrum at times, and they were very good around the ruck, so credit to them. They deserved the win, clearly.

"We're going to learn from it. It was a lesson on making sure our error rate and our discipline needs to be much better. If you give so many turnovers and penalties away to a good team like New Zealand, you're not going to win."

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