Scotland failed to do themselves justice as they fell to a heavy defeat by New Zealand in the Nations Championship, flanker Rory Darge believes.

The Scots were well in the game at the break, trailing 24-21, but offered little in the second half as the All Blacks moved through the gears to run out 43-21 winners at Murrayfield.

"It's tough, because we could play better," Darge said. "I think there was lots of our game where we just weren't quite at the level that we know we can be.

"Obviously, I thought New Zealand were outstanding. That's the reason why they're as high in the rankings - I think they're number two in the world.

"We knew it was going to be a tough game, but obviously it's a tough one and it's disappointing because we knew it could be better.

"The reason I feel disappointed right now is because I don't think we played as well as we should. I think that's the main thing.

"It'll be the main thing that we review and look at how we can be better, because it's an eight-day turnaround into another top quality side [Australia].

"I think our discipline wasn't great, even in the first half. We offered up a lot of entries into the 22. The breakdown could have been much better.

"They obviously went hard at it, but there's a lot in our control that we could have done better.

"Two weeks of really good prep and that's another part that makes it tougher to swallow."