Rugby: Beattie warns of letting hat-trick slip

Published on Tuesday 24 November 2009 08:40

BIRTHDAY boy John Beattie believes Scotland have come too far in the Autumn rugby Tests to take a backward step when Argentina visit Murrayfield on Saturday.

The back rower, who celebrated his 24th birthday by sharing in the memorable 9-8 victory over Australia as an encore to scoring a try in the win over Fiji, said: "We believe we can go out and win in what will again be a very physical game.

"What we have to do is get hold of the ball and play in the right areas."

Beattie admitted it was almost too close for comfort as a last-gasp conversion by Matt Giteau which would have snatched the spoils for Australia sailed past the post.

But he insisted: "It doesn't matter that the final score was 9-8 and they missed a kick to win. What goes into the record books is that Scotland beat a top rugby nation."

While the last-minute drama was unfolding Beattie was undergoing customary recovery having given his all and been substituted for extra impact down the home straight.

He says he wanted to stage a mini-pitch invasion at the denouement. "It was a horrible feeling when they scored and as the boys were preparing to attempt to charge down the conversion I just wanted to jump off the bike and get out there myself to help."

Meanwhile, defence coach Graeme Steadman has revealed that the high quality Scottish tackling didn't just keep the Aussies out until the last moment but had an added advantage in prompting uncertainties.

"What happened also was that the Aussies got frustrated and changed their tactics. For the first 25 minutes Giteau was quite happy to play through four or five phases to try to create openings on both flanks. When nothing materialised for them he went to a kicking game to try to get field position for set-piece attacks."

As Aussie concerns grew Steadman says the true character of the Scots emerged. "The desire was huge."