Scotland scored eight tries in a thrilling 53-24 win over Australia at Murrayfield on Saturday — their record-highest win over the Wallabies.
The first half was a relatively even contest, but the match turned after Sekope Kepu was sent off right before half-time. From there, Scotland dominated.
Stuart Hogg was forced to withdraw from the Scotland starting XV before kick-off. Sean Maitland moved to full-back to cover for him, while Byron McGuigan started on the left wing.
Finn Russell opened the scoring for Scotland after 14 minutes, slotting his kick over after Sean McMahon was penalised for offside.
The first try of the game came a minute later. McGuigan started the move by pouncing on a poor pass and finished it by running onto his own kick and crossing the line. Russell converted.
The Wallabies finally struck back 33 minutes in. Bernard Foley put a clever kick through for Tevita Kuridrani to score and then converted the try.
Three minutes later, Kuridrani scored another try to put Australia ahead. Once again, Foley initiated the move with a kick-and-chase and got the final pass away to the centre. However, this time, the fly-half missed the conversion.
Just as Australia seemed to be finding their feet, Sekope Kepu was red carded on the stroke of half-time for diving dangerously with his shoulder into the head of Hamish Watson.
Scotland capitalised on their numerical advantage 39 minutes in as Ali Price peeled off the driving maul to score their second try. Russell converted once more.
Australia hit back two minutes into the second half with an unconverted try as Kurtley Beale powered over following some patient build-up.
However, from there, it was all one way traffic. First, Maitland went on a brilliant run down the left, scoring an unconverted try to put Scotland back ahead four minutes after conceding. Then, after another three minutes, Jamie Bhatti's run set Jonny Gray up for Scotland's fourth try. This time, Russell converted.
Huw Jones then added another try 55 minutes into the game after Russell set him up following a quickly-taken penalty. Despite his good work in the build-up, the fly-half failed to convert.
McGuigan scored his second try after 61 minutes after some quick hands from the hosts in the build-up. Once again, Russell missed his conversion attempt.
Australia scored a consolation try with 11 minutes left on the clock, with Lopeti Timani getting down low and powering through for the finish after the visitors were awarded a penalty for offside. Foley added the extras.
However, John Barclay crashed through three tackles at the other end five minutes later to score after a lengthy build-up. This time, Russell popped a simple conversion over.
Kurtley Beale was yellow carded in the 79th minute for foul play and Stuart McInally crashed over from the driving maul. Russell converted with the last kick of the game.
The scorers:
For Scotland:
Tries: McGuigan 2, Price, Maitland, Gray, Jones, Barclay, McInally
Cons: Russell 5
Pen: Russell
For Australia:
Tries: Kuridrani 2, Beale, Timani
Cons: Foley 2
Yellow Card: Beale
Red Card: Kepu
Scotland: 15 Sean Maitland, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Pete Horne, 11 Byron McGuigan, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ali Price, 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 John Barclay (c), 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 Simon Berghan, 2 Stuart McInally, 1 Darryl Marfo
Replacements: 16 Fraser Brown, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 Zander Fagerson, 19 Ben Toolis, 20 Cornell du Preez, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Phil Burleigh, 23 Ruaridh Jackson
Australia: 15 Kurtley Beale, 14 Marika Koroibete, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Samu Kerevi, 11 Reece Hodge, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Will Genia, 8 Sean McMahon, 7 Michael Hooper (c), 6 Ben McCalman, 5 Blake Enever, 4 Rob Simmons, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Scott Sio
Replacements: 16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Tetera Faulkner, 18 Taniela Tupou, 19 Lukhan Tui, 20 Lopeti Timani, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Karmichael Hunt, 23 Henry Speight
Referee: Pascal Gaüzère (France)
Assistant referees: John Lacey (Ireland), David Wilkinson (Ireland)
TMO: Graham Hughes (England)
No comments:
Post a Comment