Echoes of 1982 Brisbane victory heard yesterday

Published on Saturday 21 November 2009 22:29

IT MAY have been by the slenderest of margins, but Scotland's victory over Australia at Murrayfield last evening was a huge achievement in the context of this nation's poor record against the Southern Hemisphere giants.

New Zealand have never lost to Scotland, a single draw against the visiting All Blacks in 1983 being the only badge of honour against them. The last victory against South Africa was in 2002, and Scotland had not beaten Australia for 27 years, the last victory a surprise 12-7 win in Brisbane.

Keith Robertson's try was the highlight of an error-strewn match at the sadly-defunct Ballymore ground. It was Andy Irvine's 50th cap and the full-back conversion and penalty, added to John Rutherford's drop goal, gave Scotland victory which was promptly revenged by Australia six days later with a 33-9 win in Sydney.

There was a strange echo of that 1982 match in Matt Giteau's poor goal-kicking performance yesterday. At Brisbane, Australia thought they would win easily and deigned to take the field without a recognised place kicker. Michael Hawker took on the duty and missed four out of five shots at goal – the same as Giteau, though one of his efforts yesterday was a drop goal attempt.

Scotland back then could also be a very disciplined side, as was shown in 1981 when the Aussies lost the plot. Irvine kicked five penalties and a conversion in a 24-15 home win.

In hindsight, the discipline shown by the Scots yesterday may be seen as the key to a famous victory.