Scotland and Australia serve up a damp squib as hosts cling on for win
It wasn’t easy on the eye but Scotland bounce back with gritty victory at Murrayfield
Sometimes you just have to grind it out and Scotland did so at Murrayfield, edging out Australia in the Nations Championship in what was a battle of defences.
They had to survive a late Wallaby surge and were grateful for Darcy Graham’s tackle on Aussie full-back Tom Wright which prevented the visitors pulling off a dramatic late smash and grab. The clock was in the red when the Scotland winger tackled Wright into touch.
The 15-12 win moves Gregor Townsend’s side back up to fourth place in the Northern Hemisphere standings, level with All Blacks-conquering Wales but with a better points difference. The Scots host Japan in their final group game on Saturday before heading to Twickenham for Finals Weekend. If they finish in fourth, they look set to meet Australia once more in London.
It wasn’t pretty and the pyrotechnics we’d seen over the weekend in Paris and Cardiff were conspicuous by their absence. Murrayfield, dark and driech, was more of a damp squib. These were two nervy teams looking to get back on track after heavy defeats the previous week.
Scotland scored two first-half tries, through Matt Fagerson and Jack Dempsey, but their only points after the interval came from Finn Russell’s 75th-minute penalty. It turned out to be the game’s decisive moment but it will be a worry for Townsend that his team failed to trouble the opposition try-line in the second half for the second week in a row.
Australia, who lost heavily to England last weekend, came north looking for redemption. They scored a try in the first half through Harry Potter and went in at the turn 12-5 down. Russell’s penalty had them trailing 15-5 going into the final minutes but they almost salvaged the game through a late converted try by Max Jorgensen and then the dramatic breakaway which was halted by Graham.
The little winger was rarely seen in an attacking sense but he did his bit on a day when Scotland’s defence looked more robust than it had against New Zealand the previous week. Max Williamson, a first-half replacement for the injured Scott Cummings, put in a huge shift and had some mighty hits.
Rory Darge and Tom Jordan also deserve credit for gritty, aggressive performances when both had to take on extra responsibilities following the withdrawal before kick-off of Sione Tuipulotu. The Scotland skipper had not been able to shake off a knee injury and was replaced in the starting line-up by Jordan, with Stafford McDowall brought on to the bench.
Darge assumed the captaincy and led by example, menacing the Australians at the breakdown
Jordan was at his pugnacious best in the build-up to Scotland’s first try. The home side were camped on the Aussie line after Russell’s clever low diagonal had put Carter Gordon in trouble.
Scotland recycled and Jordan and Darge both took it on before Ben White spun it wide for Matt Fagerson to flop over. Russell’s conversion attempt struck the outside of the post and Scotland’s 5-0 lead was wiped out two minutes later.
Gordon’s delayed pass created space and Harry Potter was able to accelerate up the left wing. Russell’s attempt to tackle him was inadequate and Potter was also able to wriggle free from White. The wing wizard had scored on his Wallabies debut at Murrayfield two years ago and repeated the feat.
Australia kept the pressure on, winning a couple of aerial duels but they were off target with an attempted drop goal by scrum-half Ryan Lonergan who had also missed the conversion.
The Scots were dealing with the Wallabies’ kicking game and the breakdown was even-stevens but another timely intervention from Russell looked as if it had set up Scotland for a second try. A lovely angled kick to the corner found Kyle Steyn and the winger hacked it on. Darcy Graham was first to it and dived on the ball in the dead-ball area. It looked like a good try but replays showed Steyn had strayed into touch and it was chalked off.
Cummings, Scotland’s lineout totem, limped off and was replaced by Williamson who didn’t take long to find his feet, putting in a huge hit on Australia captain Harry Wilson.
Scotland regrouped and Dempsey bagged his try in the 28th minute. The No 8 won 14 caps for the Wallabies but there were no divided loyalties here. He won a lineout and after Ashman, Darge and Matt Fagerson had all gone close, Dempsey forced his way over.
Russell’s conversion put the Scots 12-5 ahead and it stayed that way for the remainder of the half. Australia thought they had pilfered a try from a lineout drive through hooker Billy Pollard but the Aussie forwards were guilty of obstruction.
Pollard was shown a yellow card five minutes into the second half for a high tackle on Blair Kinghorn and the hooker could have no argument. Steyn, meanwhile, was able to start the half after passing an HIA.
The game was becoming increasingly ragged and Scotland were unable to score while Australia were down to 14 men. Changes were made, with Jamie Dobie taking over from an unusually ineffective White at scrum-half, Pierre Schoeman replacing Rory Sutherland at loosehead and Josh Bayliss taking over from Dempsey.
As the clock ticked into the final 15 minutes Australia started to threaten more but the Scottish defence held firm.
Ollie Leatherbarrow came on in the 70th minute for his Scotland debut, the Newcastle Red Bulls forward replacing Matt Fagerson. And the home side enjoyed a good spell almost immediately.
They built the phases, the blue tide moving into the Aussie 22 and forcing them into conceding a penalty. It was decision time for Darge and he opted to go for the points rather than the corner. Russell stepped up and knocked over the penalty to increase Scotland’s lead to 15-5 with five minutes remaining.
It felt like the correct call by Darge and it meant Australia needed two scores to salvage something. They almost got them. A break down the blindside caught Scotland out and Jeremy Williams popped it to Jorgensen to score in the corner. Ben Donaldson landed the conversion to make it 15-12 and from the restart, the Wallabies looked like they might snatch it. They deftly worked it out wide and Jorgensen exchanged passes with Wright but Graham saved the day with a tackle on the Australian full-back which put him into touch and ended the game.
Scotland 15-12 Australia teams and scorers
Scorers: Scotland: Tries: M Fagerson, Dempsey. Con: Russell. Pen: Russell.
Australia: Tries: Potter, Jorgensen. Con: Donaldson.
Yellow card: Pollard (Aus, 45min).
Scotland: B Kinghorn; K Steyn (J Dobie 35-40), H Jones, T Jordan (S McDowall 76), D Graham; F Russell, B White (Dobie 51); R Sutherland (P Schoeman 45), E Ashman (G Hiddleston 61), Z Fagerson (W Hurd 61), G Brown, S Cummings (M Williamson 25), M Fagerson (O Leatherbarrow 70), R Darge, J Dempsey (J Bayliss, 51).
Australia: T Wright; M Jorgensen, J-A Suaalii, L Ikitau (22 Ben Donaldson), H Potter (F Daugunu 63); C Gordon, R Lonergan (T McDermott 765; A Bell (I Kailea 61), B Pollard (T Hooper 57), A Alaalatoa (T Tupou 52), J Canham (L Shaw 61), J Williams, R Valetini (B Paenga-Amosa 53), F McReight, H Wilson.
Referee: James Doleman (NZ).
Attendance: 65,095.
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