I made history for Scotland at Murrayfield but would trade it all for a win over All Blacks

Ewan Ashman will forever hold the record as the first Scotland player to score a hat-trick against New Zealand.

The Edinburgh hooker’s trio of tries made him just the fifth individual in world rugby to achieve the feat against the mighty All Blacks. He crossed three times in the first half as Scotland trailed 24-21 at Murrayfield on Saturday before the visitors dominated the second half, eventually securing a 43-21 victory.

That meant it was mixed emotions for the former Sale Sharks forward who, despite having achieved something special, made it clear he would far rather have achieved glory as a team. The 26-year-old said: “It's a strange one.

Ewan Ashman scored a hat-trick for Scotland in their 43-21 defeat to the All Blacks at Murrayfield (Pic: Getty) | Getty Images

“I can be proud of that” - Ashman recognises significance of historic hat-trick but Scotland win was the goal

“Obviously, the overriding feeling is gutted that we lost, and that's the first thing. I'd trade all the tries to have won that game.

“If you told me when I was a wee kid that I'd get a hat-trick against the All Blacks, I'd probably take that as well. I’m proud of the effort of the boys, but we just didn't do it justice today, especially in that second half.

“I think we cut them in the first half. The maul was obviously a big strength. I thought this was the one we were going to get at them. Unfortunately, we didn't come out after half-time as good as we should have.

“As I said, result aside, that [hat-trick] is something I can be proud of. I'm sure when I get over the emotion of the result, I can look back at that and be proud and be buzzing.

"My family were giving it beans at the end. They maybe didn't feel the way I did about the game, but it's nice, obviously, to be in with players of that calibre.

“It's such a quality side. It just shows you that, for only five people to do that, it's nice."

The Scotland players now need to move on from the disappointment and focus on their next Nations Championship Test as Australia visit Murrayfield next weekend. They then face Japan the week after that before a fourth match as part of ‘Finals Weekend’ at Twickenham.

Looking ahead to that match, Ashman added: “I can't remember what coach said it to me, but he said you're never as good as you think and you're never as bad as you think.

"I think it's going to be a hard review on Monday and there's going to be some honest conversations, but it'll quickly flip into excitement for Australia and how buzzing we are and what we can take from our game and put out there for the fans at Murrayfield. There'll be a lot of learnings on Monday and then we'll quickly try and move on because that's the nature of the game.

“Every game at Murrayfield, you've seen the performances that we've put in in the past, and you think of that France game and you think of that England game here. I feel like when we put performances out like that, why shouldn't we think that we can beat certain teams?

"I think we take confidence from playing at home and being ourselves, so I'm looking forward to Australia this season. It's massive and that's the goal [to win all remaining games], that's what you have to do. That's the business side of it. We need to win the rest of the games."

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