Wallabies end recent drought against Scotland

Australia came out on top in a low quality 16-15 win over Scotland in their Autumn Nations Series opener at Murrayfield on Saturday.

This result ends a run of three straight losses against the Scots so it will delight the Wallabies as they get their end-of-year campaign off on a positive note.

A second-half try from captain James Slipper added to three penalties and a conversion from Bernard Foley but mistakes will frustrate coach Dave Rennie.

For Scotland their points came via tries from Ollie Smith and Blair Kinghorn, with the number 10 also kicking one conversion and a penalty on the night.

The Scots looked on course for a fourth consecutive victory over the Wallabies when they led 15-6 after those excellent tries from Smith and Kinghorn.

But the sin-binning of Edinburgh lock Glen Young on his first Murrayfield appearance allowed Australia a much-needed foothold and they managed to turn the game in their favour in the closing quarter.

Kinghorn, playing at number 10 following Gregor Townsend’s contentious decision not to include Finn Russell in the squad, could have won it for Scotland at the end but sent a penalty agonisingly wide.

With the match taking place outside the international window, the Scotland XV was made up entirely of Edinburgh and Glasgow players.  Flanker Jamie Ritchie, 26, captained the side for the first time since it was announced last week that he would be replacing Stuart Hogg as skipper.

Australia arrived in Edinburgh under pressure after winning just three of their previous 12 matches, while they had also lost each of their last three meetings with the Scots.

The Wallabies started brightly, threatening the hosts’ try-line on more than one occasion in the opening 10 minutes.

But it was Scotland who made the breakthrough when Glasgow full-back Smith, making his first appearance at Murrayfield too, received a lovely offload from Kinghorn and darted beyond a couple of opponents before planting the ball down left of the posts.

There were audible groans from the home support as Kinghorn spurned his conversion attempt from what appeared to be a perfectly kickable position.

This aberration allowed the Wallabies to reduce the arrears to just two points in the 15th minute when Foley kicked a penalty from a central position after Ritchie was penalised at the breakdown.

The hosts were forced into a change in the 24th minute as Sam Skinner went off to be replaced by Young.

Scotland should have stretched their lead in the 27th minute when Kinghorn looped a superb pass out to the right for Sione Tuipulotu, but the Glasgow centre dropped the ball just as he looked set to burst over the line.

In the following phase of play, the Scots somehow failed to force their way over the line after a sustained spell of pressure in front of Australia’s posts, but the visitors did superbly to hold the ball up.

The Scots were left to rue those moments of profligacy as another Foley penalty from 30 metres out on the stroke of half-time edged Australia in front after Dave Cherry failed to roll away.

But, three minutes after the restart, the Scots got themselves back in front when Kinghorn, under scrutiny as a result of taking Russell’s place, seized on a loose ball in his own half, kicked it in behind the Wallabies defence and raced on to it himself before kicking it forward again, collecting it just in front of the line and bounding gleefully over for a magnificent solo touchdown.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 That's unreal from Blair Kinghorn! #AutumnNationsSeries #SCOvAUSpic.twitter.com/FNfz4dQA68

― Planet Rugby (@PlanetRugby) October 29, 2022

This time the Edinburgh number 10 made no mistake with the conversion.

Kinghorn then extended Scotland’s lead to nine points with a penalty in the 54th minute.

The hosts appeared in the ascendancy and ready to put the Wallabies to the sword, but their momentum was halted in the 56th minute when, following a TMO review, Young was sent to the sin-bin for an illegal entry during a promising Scottish attack.

After an hour, amid a raft of substitutions, Jack Dempsey, who won 14 caps for Australia between 2017 and 2019, was introduced for his Scotland debut, the Sydney-born Glasgow flanker able to take advantage of a recent change in World Rugby’s eligibility rules to switch allegiance.

Within seconds, however, the Wallabies made their extra man count when captain Slipper forced his way over on the right and Foley once again converted, bringing the visitors back to within two points.

Australia got their noses in front in the 70th minute with a Foley penalty.

Scotland had a chance to win it in the last minute, but Kinghorn’s penalty drifted agonisingly wide.

Scotland edge to victory over in-form Wallabies

Finn Russell’s 69th minute penalty proved decisive as Scotland continued their fine start to their Autumn Nations Series campaign with a battling 15-13 victory over Australia.

It was an enthralling game which was tight throughout, but it was the hosts that took an advantage into the interval thanks to Hamish Watson’s try.

James O’Connor’s penalty reduced the arrears before Rob Leota touched down in the second period to take the Wallabies into the lead for the first time.

The match continued to see-saw, however, with debutant Ewan Ashman crossing the whitewash for the Scots and O’Connor responding off the tee for the visitors.

However, Gregor Townsend’s men controlled the latter exchanges, earning a penalty from the scrum, and Russell was on target to give his side the win.

Townsend made six changes to the side that thrashed Tonga last weekend as he sent out a team featuring 14 of the 15 players who started the historic win in Paris in March.

Australia, ranked number three in the world and buoyed by a run of five consecutive wins, looked set to get the first points on the board in the fourth minute when they won a penalty just to the right of the posts, but O’Connor sliced his kick wide from 30 metres out.

Scotland were forced into a change after just 11 minutes when George Turner went off with a head injury to be replaced by debutant Ashman.

The Murrayfield crowd was in raptures after 22 minutes when Edinburgh back-row Watson touched down to break the deadlock after the Scots pushed their way over following a lineout just a few metres from the try-line.

After a delay while the TMO checked for an obstruction, Finn Russell made no mistake in kicking the conversion between the posts.

Australia were struggling to breach Scotland’s resistance, but they thought they had got themselves off and running in the 35th minute when Michael Hooper forced the ball down under the posts.

However, the try was ruled out after the TMO spotted some foul play with the shoulder by Allan Alaalatoa on Matt Fagerson.  The Wallabies prop was duly sent to the sin-bin.

Australia got their first points on the board right on half-time when O’Connor kicked a penalty after Fagerson was caught going off his feet at a ruck.

Four minutes after the restart, the Wallabies got themselves in front when Leota received a lay-off from Nic White, found a gap in the Scots’ defence and darted over the line.  O’Connor was successful with the conversion.

The match swung back in the hosts’ favour in the 59th minute when Ashman was fed by Pierre Schoeman wide on the left and somehow managed to touch the ball down on the line despite the close attention of two Wallabies.  Russell sent his kick wide of the post.

O’Connor edged Australia back in front with a penalty in the 64th minute after Watson went in off his feet at a ruck.

However, Scotland regained the initiative in the 68th minute when Russell kicked a penalty from 40 metres after the Australian scrum collapsed.  It proved to be decisive in an exhilarating contest as Townsend’s classy team maintained their impressive momentum.

Scotland wallop Wallabies

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)

Scotland stun Australia in Sydney

Scotland continued with their fine recent form when they claimed an historic 24-19 victory over Australia in Sydney on Saturday.

The last five Tests between these sides were decided by six points or less and, as the scoreline suggests, this one was no different with this result being Scotland's first-ever triumph over the Wallabies in Sydney.

Both sides scored three tries apiece and the game was in the balance until the end although a 61st minute try from Hamish Watson was the difference between the sides.

The visitors held a 17-12 lead at half-time thanks largely to tries from Duncan Taylor and Finn Russell with a brace of five-pointers from Israel Folau keeping the home side in the game.

Scotland took an early lead courtesy of a long range penalty from Greig Tonks in the fifth minute after Scott Higginbotham infringed at a ruck.

The visitors spent the next 10 minutes camped in Australia's half and were rewarded when Taylor intercepted a Tatafu Polota-Nau pass just outside the home side's 22 and had an easy run-in for the opening try.

Midway through the half, Will Genia made a telling break inside Scotland's 22 before offloading to Bernard Foley and he did well to get a long pass out to Israel Folau who glided through a gaping hole in Scotland's defence before crossing for Australia's first try.

Five minutes later, Foley was yellow carded for a shoulder charge on Russell and it did not take long for Scotland to benefit from their numerical advantage when Russell charged down an attempted clearance from Genia before regathering and diving over for his side's second try.

Just before half-time, referee Wayne Barnes sent Ryan Wilson to the sin bin for slowing the ball down cynically at a ruck close to his try-line and the Wallabies made them pay when Folau gathered a pin-point cross-field kick from Foley before diving over for his second try.

The second half was a more measured affair although the Wallabies showed more urgency on attack, they were met by a solid defensive effort from the visitors.

The Wallabies continued to probe at Scotland's try-line and were eventually rewarded in the 55th minute when Genia barged over from close quarters.  Foley added the extras which meant the Wallabies held the lead for the first time with the score at 19-17.

The visitors did not take that lying down and five minutes later, Lee Jones found himself in space down the right-hand touchline.  He threw an inside pass to Taylor who did well to draw in Folau before offloading to Watson, who crossed for the matchwinning try.

The Wallabies tried gallantly to fight back in the final quarter and spent large periods camped inside their opponents' half during that period but they were kept at bay by a superb defensive effort from the Scots.

The scorers:

For Australia:
Tries:  Folau 2, Genia
Cons:  Foley 2
Yellow Card:  Foley

For Scotland:
Tries:  Taylor, Russell, Watson
Cons:  Russell 3
Pen:  Tonks
Yellow Card:  Wilson

Australia:  15 Israel Folau, 14 Dane Haylett-Petty, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Karmichael Hunt, 11 Eto Nabuli, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Will Genia, 8 Scott Higginbotham, 7 Michael Hooper (c), 6 Ned Hanigan, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Sam Carter, 3 Allan Alaalatoa, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 Tom Robertson
Replacements:  16 Stephen Moore, 17 Scott Sio, 18 Sekope Kepu, 19 Rory Arnold, 20 Richard Hardwick, 21 Joe Powell, 22 Quade Cooper, 23 Reece Hodge

Scotland:  15 Greig Tonks, 14 Lee Jones, 13 Alex Dunbar, 12 Duncan Taylor, 11 Rory Hughes, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ali Price, 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 John Barclay (c), 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Ben Toolis, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Gordon Reid
Replacements:  16 Ross Ford, 17 Allan Dell, 18 Willem Nel, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Josh Strauss, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Ruaridh Jackson, 23 Matt Scott

Referee:  Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant Referees:  Matthew Carley (England), Brendon Pickerill (New Zealand)

Australia squeeze past Scotland

Australia came back from 16-22 down to claim a hard fought 23-22 victory over Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday.

In an entertaining and hard-fought encounter, the home side dominated for large periods against a Wallaby side who battled to get going and committed a plethora of errors on attack before a late Tevita Kuridrani try, which Bernard Foley converted, secured them the result.

Scotland outscored their visitors by three tries to one with centre Huw Jones leading the way with an impressive first-half brace.  Australia should actually consider themselves lucky for coming away with a positive result as they looked dead and buried until Kuridrani's 75th minute try.

Scotland opened the scoring via a Greig Laidlaw penalty in the third minute before Australia suffered a setback two minutes later when Adam Coleman was forced to leave the field through injury.

Scotland soon increased their lead emphatic fashion when Hugh Jones gathered a Finn Russell chip kick before outpacing the cover defence to cross for a deserved try and Laidlaw's conversion meant the hosts held a comfortable 10-0 lead.

The Wallabies didn't take long to respomd though and a brilliant backline move in which Israel Folau, Nick Phipps, Bernard Foley and Dane Haylett-Petty all handled in the build sawo Reece Hodge rounding off after beating a couple of defenders.

Bernard Foley added the extras and a 23rd minute penalty meant the scores were soon level.  It didn't take long for the hosts to respond though and once again it was Jones who crossed for a try after gliding through a gap in the Wallabies' defence.

Laidlaw's conversion meant the home side led 17-10 at the interval but the Walabies reduced the deficit when Foley landed a penalty early in the second half.

Five minutes later, Scotland increased their lead when Jonny Gray barged over from close quarters after Stuart Hogg did well with a strong run in the build-up.

Laidlaw's kick struck a post — a miss which would prove crucial in the end — but Scotland had their tails up with the score at 22-13 after 50 minutes.

The Wallabies replied via a Foley penalty five minutes later, but they were dealt a blow when Will Skelton was yellow carded in the 69th minute for a shoulder charge on an opponent.

Despite their numerical disadvantage, the visitors didn't panic and five minutes before the end, Kuridrani slipped past Peter Horne to go in under the posts before Foley added the extras to secure victroy.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Tries:  Jones 2, J Gray
Cons:  Laidlaw 2
Pen:  Laidlaw

For Scotland:
Tries:  Kuridrani, Hodge
Cons:  Foley 2
Pens:  Foley 3
Yellow card:  Skelton

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw (c), 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 John Barclay, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Allan Dell
Replacements:  16 Fraser Brown, 17 Gordon Reid, 18 Moray Low, 19 Grant Gilchrist, 20 John Hardie, 21 Ali Price, 22 Pete Horne, 23 Rory Hughes

Australia:  15 Israel Folau, 14 Dane Haylett-Petty, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Reece Hodge, 11 Henry Speight, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Will Genia, 8 Lopeti Timani, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 David Pocock, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Rory Arnold, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Scott Sio
Replacements:  16 Tolu Latu, 17 Tom Robertson, 18 Allan Alaalatoa, 19 Rob Simmons, 20 Will Skelton, 21 Dean Mumm, 22 Nick Phipps, 23 Quade Cooper

Referee:  John Lacey (Ireland)
Assistant Referees:  Ben O'Keeffe (New Zealand), Ian Davies (Wales)
TMO:  Simon McDowell (Ireland)

Wallabies do enough at Murrayfield

Australia outscored Scotland two tries to nil to claim the third victory of their November tour, winning 21-15 at Murrayfield on Saturday.

The depleted Wallaby side overcame a much-improved Scotland side in a scrappy Test punctuated by penalties and errors but could easily have won by a lot more had Christian Leali'ifano not missed five kicks at goal.

The Scots had something of a point to prove after last week's humiliating 28-0 home defeat to South Africa, but the signs were a tad ominous after they coughed up possession from the kick-off, and then infringed to allow Leali'ifano to put the visitors in front.

Referee Jaco Peyper was quick with the whistle at the breakdown, rewarding the defending side with penalties for not releasing, and this contributed to an early barrage of three-point opportunities.

Scotland's set-piece struggled in the opening portion of that Springbok hammering, and despite improvements, it continued to pester Scott Johnson's men, as scrum and lineout possession proved unreliable.

The Murrayfield pitch once again hindered scrummaging, and Peyper did not pick up on several blatantly squint feeds from Australian scrum-half Will Genia.

But while the Scots lost five of their lineouts, the Australians secured every one of their own.

An early injury to Ross Ford saw Pat MacArthur enter the fray just 20 minutes into the game, with the Glasgow Warriors hooker afforded the game-time many had called for in the wake of the Borderer's misfiring throwing.

The Australians were guilty of straying offside with cynical regularity in the first-half when Scotland got themselves in attacking positions, conceding a total of 13 penalties (with the Scots not far behind on 11) and it was from one of these infringements that Greig Laidlaw was given the simple chance to level the scores.

Scott Johnson's side enjoyed a brief period in the Wallaby 22, and after a series of big carries from Jim Hamilton, and a jinking run from Duncan Weir, were awarded another straightforward penalty from which Laidlaw gave his side the lead.

Quade Cooper's nasty late charge on Sean Maitland gave Weir a long-range opportunity for three points, but the fly-half's kick was short of the target, and Leali'fano was once more able to tie things up after David Denton strayed offside at the breakdown.

But Cooper redeemed himself in typically swash-buckling fashion minutes later, after a stolen Scottish lineout gave the visitors possession in the hosts' 22.

Exploiting loosehead Ryan Grant in midfield, the pivot gave a lovely inside ball to the onrushing Israel Folau, who finished from 20 metres out.  Leali'ifano converted without issue.

Laidlaw added his third penalty, before the Scots burst into life two minutes from half-time.

A scything 50 metre Johnnie Beattie break caught the Wallaby defence on the hop, and his pass released Sean Maitland into space.  The full-back fed Sean Lamont 25 metres from the line with Folau covering back, but the winger failed to back himself and stuttered to a halt a metre from the line.

Johnson's men hammered the Wallaby line for the next few phases, but Denton spilled the ball in contact, and a free-kick from the resultant scrum allowed Cooper to end the first half with the visitors leading 13-12.

Folau again showed his menace straight after the break, with a powerul run and offload into the Scottish 22.

But the Wallabies were celebrating again soon after, as fine handling in midfield allowed the visitors to exploit a sizeable overlap up the right-hand-side, and Chris Feauai-Sautia scrambled over in the corner after Maitland failed to complete the tackle.

Leali'fano missed the tricky conversion, and the Wallabies then put themselves under pressure with a barrage of needless infringements.

Second-row Rob Simmonds unleashed a flurry of blows on Moray Low, who was holding the Australian back at a ruck, and after referral to the TMO, Peyper showed the lock a yellow-card.

Laidlaw made no mistake with the subsequent penalty opportunity, and cut the deficit to three points with his fifth successful goal of the night.

But, straight from the kick-off, Scotland were penalised in typically swift fashion by Peyper, as the arriving players failed to stay on their feet, and Leali'fano canceled out Laidlaw's kick.

Scotland pressed hard from the restart, with a powerful burst up the left-hand-side from Denton, and another break from Maitland taking the hosts to within eight metres of the Wallaby line.

Again, though, imprecision saw them spill the ball into touch, and Genia removed the danger with a solid box-kick.

The hosts continued to enjoy the better of the second-half, and indeed looked far more threatening with ball in hand than they did a week ago.

Laidlaw's last act was to scuff a penalty attempt short from some 40 metres, but the miss was not to prove immediately costly as Leali'fano miscued from similar range.

Genia probed the Scottish cover defence with a neat array of box kicks, and Hooper — constantly courting infringements — forced a penalty for his side on the home 22.

Again, though, Leali'fano's radar was off, and the Scots remained in touch six points adrift going into the final ten minutes.

The centre was given an easier chance to effectively put the game beyond the Scots with five minutes to play after Lamont ran into his own player straight in front of the posts from around 35 metres out.

But Leali'ifano missed his fourth kick of the match, and Murrayfield was poised for a grandstand finish.

It ended in something of an anticlimax, however, as Hooper seized upon the isolated Pat MacArthur to win a penalty, and Nic White could send the ball into touch to round off proceedings.

Man of the Match:  Australian openside Michael Hooper flirted with illegality aplenty, but his work at the breakdown frequently prevented the Scots from building momentum, or gaining quick ball.

Moment of the Match:  There weren't many highlights in this scrappy affair, but Joe Tomane receiving a pass while two yards off the pitch in touch brought about plenty of smiles.

Villain of the Match:  The Murrayfield crowd were less than impressed by Jaco Peyper's officiating, but the game's pantomime villain was Rob Simmonds for his poorly-executed boxing attempts.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Pens:  Laidlaw 5

For Australia: 
Tries:  Folau, Feauai-Sautia
Con:  Leali'ifano
Pens:  Leali'ifano 3
Yellow card:  Simmons

Scotland:  15 Sean Maitland, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Nick De Luca, 12 Duncan Taylor, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Duncan Weir, 9 Greig Laidlaw, 8 Dave Denton, 7 Kelly Brown (c), 6 John Beattie, 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 Moray Low, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Ryan Grant
Replacements:  16 Pat MacArthur, 17 Al Dickinson, 18 Euan Murray, 19 Jonny Gray, 20 Kieran Low, 21 Chris Cusiter, 22 Ruaridh Jackson, 23 Max Evans

Australia:  15 Israel Folau, 14 Joe Tomane, 13 Christian Leali'ifano, 12 Mike Harris, 11 Chris Feauai-Sautia, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia, 8 Ben Mowen (c), 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Scott Fardy, 5 James Horwill, 4 Rob Simmons, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 James Slipper
Replacements:  16 Saia Fainga'a, 17 Ben Alexander, 18 Paddy Ryan, 19 Sitaleki Timani, 20 Ben McCalman, 21 Nic White, 22 Nick Phipps, 23 Bernard Foley

Venue:  Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Referee:  Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant referees:  Pascal Gauzère (France), Francisco Pastrana (Argentina)
Television match official:  Geoff Warren (England)

Laidlaw kick floors Wallabies

Scotland retained the Hopetoun Cup on Tuesday after recording a last-minute 9-6 triumph over Australia in terrible weather at Hunter Stadium.

An 80th minute Greig Laidlaw penalty sparked mass celebrations from the touring side, who made it back-to-back wins over the Wallabies.

But it wasn't pretty in Newcastle, a host venue that became the tenth Australian city to host a rugby international.  This was shocking weather for it.

Scotland entered the game in the knowledge they had claimed the spoils the last time these two met.  And because of the inclement weather it seemed a similar scoreline to either side was likely in their June opener, with Australia readying themselves ahead of this weekend's three-Test opener with Wales while Scotland were set to go on to Fiji on June 16 and Samoa on June 23.

The rain wasn't the only hampering issue in Newcastle as a strong wind — favouring the visitors in the first-half — meant territory was going to be in one country's corner either side of the break.  Subsequently the Scots were in the ascendancy for most of the first 25 minutes.

A couple of Laidlaw penalties from his three attempts in the first 40 saw Andy Robinson's side take a 0-6 lead after half-an-hour, with the Wallabies struggling to get out of their half.  But when they did enjoy a rare piece of possession and looked to kick out through the sheets of rain, the wind then promptly pulled them backwards.  It was tough work.

But they did get on the board from a rare foray into opposition territory when New Zealand-born debutant Mike Harris sent over his first Test points seven minutes before the break.

That was how the score remained going into the break as Scotland took a slim advantage into the sanctuary of a dry changing room.  They knew Australia would come hard though in the second-half as it would be now be the hosts enjoying the gale force wind at their backs.

And so it was as the Wallabies returned in much better form and promptly set up camp in the opposition half, picking and going on numerous occasions as Scotland did well to hold them out.  They did get some reward for their efforts however when Harris levelled swiftly.

When replacement lock Rob Simmons was ruled not to have grounded the ball after several drives to the line from Australia, it seemed the Scots had weathered the storm.  Indeed they had as, with only the dying embers of the game left, they set about having one last assault.

It paid off too as referee Jaco Peyper blew for an offence at the breakdown and Laidlaw stepped up to seal a workmanlike and much-needed win after what was a poor Six Nations.

Man-of-the-match:  It was going to be Scotland openside Ross Rennie for 24 tackles made and zero being missed, but that was before the 80th minute.  Well done Greig Laidlaw.

The scorers:

For Australia:
Pen:  Harris 2

For Scotland:
Pen:  Laidlaw 3

Australia:  15 Luke Morahan, 14 Joe Tomane, 13 Anthony Fainga'a, 12 Mike Harris, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 Berrick Barnes, 9 Will Genia, 8 Scott Higginbotham 7 David Pocock (c), 6 Dave Dennis, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 Sitaleki Timani, 3 Dan Palmer, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 James Slipper.
Replacements:  16 Saia Fainga'a, 17 Ben Alexander, 18 Rob Simmons, 19 Michael Hooper, 20 Nick Phipps, 21 Pat McCabe, 22 Adam Ashley Cooper.

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Joe Ansbro, 13 Nick De Luca, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Greig Laidlaw, 9 Mike Blair, 8 John Barclay, 7 Ross Rennie, 6 Alasdair Strokosch, 5 Richie Gray, 4 Alastair Kellock, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Ross Ford (c), 1 Ryan Grant.
Replacements:  16 Scott Lawson, 17 Jon Welsh, 18 Tom Ryder, 19 Richie Vernon, 20 Chris Cusiter, 21 Duncan Weir, 22 Tom Brown.

Referee:  Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant referees:  Craig Joubert (South Africa), Keith Brown (New Zealand)

Scotland shock the Wallabies

Scotland caused a major upset at Murrayfield on Saturday as -- after some late drama -- they won a largely dour encounter 9-8 against Australia.

There was very little to write home about in a Test fixture predicted to act as the Wallabies' ideal tonic after suffering a painful draw in Dublin.

But that was not the case as the gritty Scots managed to pounce on an off night for the tourists, who will also be concerned over Wycliff Palu after the vital number eight was stretchered from the action due to a neck injury.

The loss of Palu looks highly likely to see coach Robbie Deans bring in either George Smith or Richard Brown at the base when they tackle Wales next week.

Australia will also be slightly concerned regarding Matt Giteau's form from the kicking tee after the usually reliable fly-half converted just one attempt from a whole host of opportunities.  The one that hurt the most was his wayward conversion shot of Ryan Cross' late try that would have spared the tourists' blushes.

It was the improving Scots' first win over Australia following a tough 27 years, with the filthy weather somewhat reminiscent of their last victory back in 1981.

Giteau was on hand to open the scoring on five minutes however, after home hooker Ross Ford struggled to find his man at lineout time early on.

Then it was the turn of a succession of injury issues for both coaches.  Australia were deprived of loosehead Benn Robinson on eighteen minutes for Sekope Kepu, who was also off form in fumbling two simple passes.

Then Scotland captain Chris Cusiter hurt his shoulder with an excellent cover tackle on full-back Adam Ashley-Cooper and Rory Lawson was called into the fray, but not before the Glasgow man saved his side by holding up Stephen Moore.

But the driving maul was one area of dominance for Scotland and it won them a 27th-minute penalty which Godman arrowed between the posts to level matters, completely against the run of play.

Normal service soon resumed, Giteau pulling the strings wonderfully both with the boot and out of hand.

But with four minutes of the half remaining, he was left red-faced after missing a point-blank penalty when Scotland had infringed at a scrum.

Australia ran their next penalty but Giteau was again off-target with a simple drop goal.

Robinson withdrew the under-performing Morrison for Nick De Luca at half-time.

However, a returning Giteau's place-kicking woes continued two minutes after the restart, though his 40-metre miss was more forgivable.

Australia were picking up where they left off and captain Rocky Elsom bulldozed his way over five minutes in.  Referee Romain Poite went to the video and, after a succession of replays, the try was not given.

Under all sorts of pressure, Scotland suddenly turned defence into attack when De Luca brilliantly kicked into the space behind, forcing Will Genia to concede a penalty.  It was the start of a massive swing in territory.

The remarkable drama continued when Mitchell celebrated a 65th-minute try after more Australia pressure only to be hauled back for a horrible forward pass from Quade Cooper, much to the delight of the Scotland fans before Palu was carried off.

Scotland continued to make crucial tackles inside their own 22 to preserve their lead before replacement Chris Paterson dropped a goal from 25 metres with just four minutes to go.

That sparked the Wallabies to set up camp five metres from the home whitewash and, despite yet more heroic defending, Cross eventually went over in the first minute of stoppage-time to leave Giteau to win the game from wide out.  He missed and Scotland claimed a famous victory.

Man of the match:  Apologies to the winning team but Australia's utter dominance in terms of possession and territory means Wycliff Palu picks up the accolade for a destructive performance from number eight.  Unfortunately, the Waratah left the field under an oxygen mask but he busted so many holes in the Scotland defence that his effort needed recognition.

Moment of the match:  An out-of-sorts Matt Giteau missing penalties and a simple drop-goal proved to be the difference at Murrayfield.

Villain of the match:  Maybe this is slightly harsh but so as not to let the gong go unassigned, Quade Cooper, after he blew a simple three on two with a long, forward pass out to Drew Mitchell when a simpler option was required.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Pen:  Godman 2
Drop:  Paterson

For Australia:
Tries:  Cross
Pen:  Giteau

Scotland:  15 Rory Lamont, 14 Sean Lamont, 13 Alex Grove, 12 Graeme Morrison, 11 Simon Danielli, 10 Phil Godman, 9 Chris Cusiter (c), 8 Johnnie Beattie, 7 John Barclay, 6 Alasdair Strokosch, 5 Alastair Kellock, 4 Nathan Hines, 3 Moray Low, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Allan Jacobsen.
Replacements:  16 Dougie Hall, 17 Kyle Traynor, 18 Jason White, 19 Richie Vernon, 20 Rory Lawson, 21 Chris Paterson, 22 Nick De Luca.

Australia:  15 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 14 Peter Hynes, 13 Digby Ioane, 12 Quade Cooper, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 Will Genia, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 George Smith, 6 Rocky Elsom (c), 5 Mark Chisholm, 4 James Horwill, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements:  16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Sekope Kepu, 18 Dean Mumm, 19 Richard Brown, 20 Luke Burgess, 21 Ryan Cross, 22 James O'Connor.

Referee:  Romain Poite (France)
Assistant referees:  Nigel Owens (Wales), Jérôme Garces (France)
Television match officials:  Graham Hughes (England)
Assessor:  Tappe Henning (South Africa)

Wallabies silence Scotland bagpipes

Australia too good for brave Scots

Australia pulled out a superb second-half performance to sink Scotland 42-15 in Edinburgh on Saturday to end their tour of Europe on a high note.

The scene was set for a spectacle of a match with fireworks welcoming the Scotland team out onto the Murrayfield pitch as the sounds of the traditional bagpipes were heard blowing from the stands.

It was a scene guaranteed to get any home team pumped with adrenalin, and it did for the most part of the first half, but as the game unfolded it would be the visiting team that put on a better fireworks display.

Scotland had given themselves the benefit of the doubt to end their 24 year losing run against Australia in the build up to the Edinburgh clash.

And why not?

The home team have had a sublime year thus far under the watchful eye of Scotland coach Frank Hadden, earning themselves a 100 per cent home-winning record in the process.

Australia were heading into a Murrayfield fortress with a less then impressive tour under their belts, and an angry media back home asking questions Wallaby coach John Connolly couldn't answer.

It seemed Connolly would have plenty more daggers waiting for him on his arrival back to Australia through a resounding display of attacking rugby from Scotland in the opening exchanges of the match.

Wallaby fly-half Stephen Larkham got the match underway and immediately the Scots showed what their intentions were with ball in hand.

Twice Scotland wing Simon Webster looked dangerous on attack and twice the game had to be stopped to see to an injury on the speedster.

The second occasion corresponded with a Scotland penalty from Australia being caught wandering offside after Webster did well to stretch the Wallaby defence.

Chris Paterson, Scotland skipper and fullback, had no trouble slotting a monster 40 meter kick to give his team an early lead with less than three minutes gone in the match.

It wouldn't stop there as Paterson handled another penalty to good affect, this time finding a huge touch after Nathan Sharpe was penalised in the line-out.

The winning line-out from the Scots resulted in fly-half Dan Parks putting in a huge up-and-under on the Wallaby back three.

With Chris Latham leaping for the ball at the full-back position, it would normally be assumed the Wallaby veteran had everything under control -- it wasn't to be this time round.

After some brilliant pressure from centre Marcus Di Rollo, Latham knocked the ball forward only for Parks to pick up from where he left off and send the ball out wide.

Webster took a well taken pass at immense pace, only to step inside two Australia defenders and touchdown for Scotland.

Paterson added the extras that was welcomed by a thundering round of applause from the Murrayfield locals.

Australia looked shell-shocked running back to the restart at 10-0 down after seven minutes.

They had already lost two line-outs to the big Scottish forwards, a feat that the visitors were trying to avoid leading up to the game.

Larkham's precision kicking made sure the Wallabies wouldn't be camped in their own half for much longer.

The visitors finally got some points on the board thanks to a high tackle on scrum-half Matt Giteau.

It was now the Wallaby skipper's turn to put his boot to good use as he slotted his first penalty of the match and hand his team three easy points.

As Australia's line-out woes continued, so did the Scotland scrum.

The Scot's gave up a handy attacking platform in the middle of the pitch from a Rocky Elsom forward pass.

However, the brute strength of the home team amounted to nothing as the Wallaby pack wielded the scrum 180 degrees and earn themselves the feed.

If the first scrum wasn't bad enough, Euan Murray made it even worse for his forwards by collapsing the scrum -- resulting in a huge Latham kick towards the Scotland try-line.

A decent line-out and 12 phases later found Stephen Larkham shouting for the ball after the forwards failed to bash their way over.

The Australia pivot took the responsibility on his own shoulders, brushed off a sorry excuse for a tackle by Di Rollo, and dived over by the posts.

Mortlock was able to block out the uncalled for booing by the Scotland supporters and add the simple conversion.

With the scores all tied up at 10-10, it didn't take long for the visitors to start pulling away.

A further two simple penalty kicks from the Wallaby skipper not only stretched their lead to six points, but also kept their late authority on the match in tow.

Scotland's early dominance was already starting to fizzle out before the half time whistle was even blown.

Though whilst their attacking abilities were laid to rest as the match wore on, Scotland's defence was solid as a rock.

Both Giteau and Mortlock were denied certain tries from some brilliant hard hits from the whole Scottish XV.

Any time the home team took a sniff at the Australia half, Latham would make he made up for his earlier blunder throughout the match and keep the Scottish out of his territory.

The Scotland highlight of the first half came with full-time approaching and the Wallabies camped on the Scotland tryline.

After countless attempts to hammer their way over the line, a fine display of commitment and a fine team effort saw the home team keep the visitors out and win a penalty in the process -- much to the delight of the home crowd.

Paterson put the first half to rest and left the field with everybody still stumped as to who would take top honours.

The second half started off a lot worse than the first for the Scots with Hugo Southwell involved in two silly misdemeanours.

The first was a kick that rolled over the dead ball line, resulting in a scrum all the way back in the Scotland 22.

While the second could possibly have caused his team a definite score had he not taken off so early from a Parks kick ahead, thus ruling him offside.

That penalty resulted in a huge Latham punt towards the half-way line.

The full-back was on hand once more to make a superb break up the middle of the field, Giteau took the ball up further who in turn passed inside to Larkham.  The Australia No.10 did well to get his pass away to a flying Mark Gerrard who sprinted towards the right hand corner to score.

Mortlock put in a fine kick from the right hand touchline to add the extra two points.

Gerrard couldn't believe his luck when only after a few minutes had passed, the winger found himself celebrating in the same corner.

Once again it was a great piece of midfield play that saw Mortlock this time racing up the middle of the field.  Larkham, who was having a stormer of a game, was in good support to take the ball on further before throwing a dummy to Southwell and putting Gerrard over for the wingers second try.

Mortlock must have polished his boots twice that day as the centre pulled off another faultless kick from the touchline.

The conversion put the score at 30-10 and gave the home team a big mountain to climb.

Scotland showed that they still had some fight left in them after Sean Lamont crossed over soon afterwards.

The home team had got themselves in the best position territorially wise in the second half before some great vision from Parks saw the fly-half send a cross kick towards the left touchline.

Wallaby wing Lote Tuqiri was on hand to field the ball, but slipped, resulting in Lamont picking up and strolling over untouched.

It was the last time Murrayfield were given something to cheers about as Paterson missed his conversion.

It was also the last time Australia would give Scotland any attacking opportunities as the floodgate opened up for the visitors from then on.

Their first run assault at the Scotland goal-line resulted in ref Donal Courtney going upstairs to adjudge an Al Campbell touchdown underneath a pile of bodies.

The TMO got it right saying the Test debutant had knocked on.

Campbell was denied his first try on debut, but wasn't denied a yellow card in his first Test match for the Wallabies after continues warnings from the ref.

Perhaps Campbell can feel a bit hard done by seeing as though it was his lock partner Sharpe who had copped all the previous warnings for killing the ball.

The sending off gave Scotland a glimmer of hope for a comeback with the Australia defence stretched to 14 men.

A try was on for the home team had it not been for another unforgivable mistake by Di Rollo that saw the centre fluff a pass with an overlap shouting for the ball.

Australia replied back as they know best with decisive breaks that were now becoming second hand for the visitors.

This time it was Waugh that took the ball up, tripped, got up again, ran a bit further, got tackled one meter out only for hooker Stephen Moore to stretch out and plonk the ball down next to the poles.

Mortlock continued his flawless kicking display as the clock began to wind down, as did the Scots.

At 37-15, the game was well dead and buried -- replacements came on for Australia by the minute as Connolly kindly gave his bench a final run on tour.

The frustration started to show amongst the home team as replacement prop Allan Jacobsen was given an early shower for a professional foul on his own line.

Latham rubbed further salt into Scotland's wounds by touching down on the stroke of full time.

Australia end their tour on a high while the Scots were left scratching their heads as to where it all went wrong.

Man of the match:  Simon Webster was superb on attack before he was forced off the field with an ankle injury.  Dan Parks did what he could with the small amount of ball he did get from his forwards.  For Australia, Chris Latham again put in a fine all round performance, minus his earlier blunder, of course!  Stirling Mortlock had a flawless day with the boot and was a menace in the midfield.  But after a long hard debate, we felt the award deserves to be handed to Stephen Larkham.  The Wallaby veteran put on his best performance on tour so far at fly-half by setting up countless tries whilst scoring one himself in the process.  His territorial play with the boot saved his team when they were put to the sword by a strong first half onslaught by the home team.

Moment of the match:  Scotland's early try in the opening 10 minutes would have raised a few eyebrows.  With Australia's countless breaks, it's hard to pinpoint one that stood out the most.  Perhaps the one by Stirling Mortlock that led to Mark Gerrard's second try?  In the end, the vote goes to the spirited losing team who held off a barage of attacks on their line, twelve phases in total, from the Wallaby forwards at the close of the first half.  The score was still reachable by all means at that point, and the Scots weren't going to let anyone through for all the haggis in the world.

Villain of the match:  Australia's Al Campbell didn't learn his lesson from Nathan Sharpe's hand slap and paid the price, while Scotland replacement prop Allan Jacobsen spent more time off the field than on it.  There were a few pushing and shoving moments from both teams as the frustration slowly got the better of the Scots, but no tears were shed in the process.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Tries:  Webster, Lamont
Cons:  Paterson
Pens:  Paterson

For Australia:
Tries:  Larkham, Gerrard 2, Moore, Latham
Cons:  Mortlock 5
Pens:  Mortlock  3

Yellow cards:  Al Campbell (Australia), Allan Jacobsen (Scotland)

The teams:

Scotland:  15 Chris Paterson (captain), 14 Sean Lamont, 13 Marcus Di Rollo, 12 Andy Henderson, 11 Simon Webster, 10 Dan Parks, 9 Mike Blair, 8 David Callam, 7 Kelly Brown, 6 Simon Taylor, 5 Scott Murray, 4 Nathan Hines, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Dougie Hall, 1 Gavin Kerr.
Replacements:  16 Ross Ford, 17 Allan Jacobsen, 18 Alastair Kellock, 19 Alasdair Strokosch, 20 Rory Lawson, 21 Phil Godman, 22 Hugo Southwell.

Australia:  15 Chris Latham, 14 Mark Gerrard, 13 Stirling Mortlock (captain), 12 Scott Staniforth, 11 Lote Tuqiri, 10 Stephen Larkham, 9 Matt Giteau, 8 David Lyons, 7 George Smith, 6 Rocky Elsom, 5 Al Campbell, 4 Nathan Sharpe, 3 Guy Shepherdson, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements:  16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Al Baxter, 18 Mark Chisholm, 19 Phil Waugh, 20 Wycliff Palu/Stephen Hoiles, 21 Josh Valentine, 22 Mat Rogers.

Referee:  Donal Courtney (Ireland)
Touch judges:  Mark Lawrence (South Africa), Hugh Watkins (Wales),
Television match official:  Nigel Whitehouse (Wales)
Assessor:  Michel Lamoulie (France)

Australia halts Scotland charge

Scotland's search for a win over Australia will continue after the Wallabies secured their second victory over Matt Williams' men in as many weeks with a hard-fought 31-17 triumph in front of 28,000 vocal fans at Hampden Park.

The final score at the home of Scottish football ― where Scotland had never previously lost a rugby match ― closely resembles the one at Murrayfield two weeks ago, but this was a very different game.

Seeking their first win over the Wallabies since 1982, Scotland competed in all areas of the game in a manner which showed real progress is being made under Australian born coach Williams.

Tries from Lote Tuqiri, Phil Waugh, Matt Giteau and George Gregan secured a 14th straight win over Scotland for the Wallabies.

Scotland were the first to threaten, however, Andy Henderson made a fine break in the centre from inside his own half and galloped into the Australia 22 before being stopped by fullback Chris Latham.

Scotland rucked the ball back efficiently though and, from Chris Paterson's delicate chip through, Tuqiri had to scramble the ball out of the field of play with Hogg waiting to pounce.

The Wallabies were forced into an early substitution when centre Stirling Mortlock was forced off ― with a suspected broken cheekbone ― to be replaced by former league star Wendell Sailor.

The change did not affect the visitors' momentum however, and from a scrum inside the Scotland half the home side were penalised and Giteau put the Wallabies ahead in the ninth minute.

Scotland hit back immediately though when George Smith was adjudged offside by referee Alan Lewis and then the Wallabies infringed at a line-out, Paterson slotting both straight-forward penalties.

The Wallabies scored the opening try on 21 when another former rugby league man Tuqiri went in at the corner following a slick handling move in the visiting backs, Giteau converting.

But the score was tinged with controversy, Scotland's players and fans being upset at what appeared a knock-on by George Smith following a fine tackle from Donnie Macfadyen in the lead-up to the try which Lewis ignored.

The Irish official did blow in Scotland's favour on the half hour when he penalised Tuqiri for holding on after he was well tackled by Chris Cusiter in midfield.  Edinburgh utility-back Paterson made no mistake with the kick.

The deficit would have increased again moments later without the intervention of Dan Parks, the stand-off being faced with a two-on-one but guessing correctly and intercepting what would have been a try-scoring pass.

The second try was not long in coming though.

Waugh notched his fourth try in the green and gold after Scotland's defence was stretched to breaking point.

Giteau converted to leave the score 17-9 with half-time looming.

The Wallabies' third league convert Mat Rogers came on just before the interval in place of Clyde Rathbone while Elton Flatley filled in for Stephen Larkham in a blood substitution which became permanent at half-time.

After making no headway in the first 10 minutes of the second-half, Bruce Douglas and Jason White came on for Gavin Kerr and Jon Petrie as Williams sought to create some forward momentum from his pack.

The move seemed to work as Scotland made their first break since Henderson's foray in the opening moments when Cusiter darted through.

The Borders scrum-half was held up inside the Australia 22 but the visitors were penalised for coming over the top and Paterson slotted his fourth penalty to bring his side to within five points of the Wallabies.

Scotland made a mess of the restart but Cusiter again scythed through before chipping ahead into the Wallaby 22.

Sailor did well to tidy up and from the resulting line-out Sydney-born Parks sliced a drop-goal attempt just wide of the posts.

After Scotland's best period of pressure in the game, Australia struck back to regain a comfortable lead when Giteau crossed after the Scotland defence was stretched by a mazy run from hooker Jeremy Paul.

The Scots refused to lie down though and seconds later Flatley's kick was charged down by Hogg, who gathered brilliantly and charged over for his side's first try of the game.  Paterson failed with the conversion from the touchline.

Scott MacLeod, Graeme Morrison, Mike Blair and Robbie Russell all entered the fray in the last 10 minutes as Williams sought to engineer a grandstand finish.

It was not be though, as a magnificent pass from Giteau allowed Wallaby captain George Gregan, winning his 105th cap, to canter in under the posts as Australia wrapped up the win with a clinical breakaway try.

Hogg was denied a second try by good work from the lively Tuqiri as Australia secured yet another win over Scotland.

Man of the Match:  Australia's inside centre Matt Giteau for an excellent performance with the boot and his second-half try that helped Australia to victory.

Moment of the match:  Australian captain George Gregan's late try that finished the Scots late charge for a surprise victory after Scotland came back into the game with Chris Paterson's try in the 66th minute.

Villain of the match:  No real contenders in a relatively clean game that was a good advert for the game.

Scotland:  15 Hugo Southwell, 14 Chris Paterson, 13 Ben Hinshelwood, 12 Andrew Henderson, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Dan Parks, 9 Chris Cusiter, 8 Jon Petrie, 7 Donny MacFadyen, 6 Allister Hogg, 5 Nathan Hines, 4 Stuart Grimes, 3 Gavin Kerr, 2 Gordon Bulloch (captain), 1 Allan Jacobsen.
Replacements:  16 Robbie Russell, 17 Bruce Douglas, 18 Scott MacLeod, 19 Jason White, 20 Mike Blair, 21 Gordon Ross, 22 Graeme Morrison.

Australia:  15 Chris Latham, 14 Clyde Rathbone, 13 Stirling Mortlock, 12 Matt Giteau, 11 Lote Tuqiri, 10 Stephen Larkham (vice-captain), 9 George Gregan (captain), 8 David Lyons, 7 Phil Waugh (vice-captain), 6 George Smith, 5 Daniel Vickerman, 4 Justin Harrison, 3 Al Baxter, 2 Jeremy Paul, 1 Bill Young.
Replacements:  16 Brendan Cannon, 17 Matt Dunning, 18 Radike Samo, 19 Stephen Hoiles, 20 Elton Flatley, 21 Mat Rogers, 22 Wendell Sailor.

Australia 34 Scotland 13

Australia wrapped up the Hopetoun Cup by subjecting Scotland to a 34-13 defeat in Sydney.  Scotland played beautifully and enjoyed the lion's share of possession, but they could not rein in the Wallabies' strike runners.

Australia beat Scotland 34-13 in the second Test of the series, this one played at Telstra Stadium in Sydney on Saturday.  The result does not do the Scottish effort justice.

The Scots were manful.  They scored a try, they kept possession, they played wide, the were full of valour and they were stopped at the line near the end, just before the Wallabies scored their last try which made the result took more comfortable.

Australia led 17-10 at half-time.  Australia had more points, Scotland greater kudos.

The Scots were not just defensive, not at all.  They attacked.  They kept the ball.  They scored a try.  If there had been points for keeping the ball, the Scots would have led at half-time.

Getting to the goal line was not easy and the reward for persistence rather than individual ability.  Several times in the half they went through many phases but those were 15 vs 15 stages and it seemed that no Scot would be at an Australian.  But they did deny the Wallabies ball.

The Wallabies' best ball came from line-outs.  They attacked from each one of them, involving both wings each time.

The Scots scored first, after only four minutes, when Stephen Larkham was off-side.

The third Wallaby attack produced a penalty when Donnie Macfadyen came in the side.

Lote Tuqiri had a good run, slapping the ball back inside to keep the attack going but it ended in a scrum to the Wallabies close to the Scots' line.  A powerful Wallaby scrum won a tighthead.  Larkham did a strong dart and popped the ball to Wendell Sailor for a catch-and-dot try, Roff converted.  10-3 to Australia

It became 17-3 when the Wallabies attacked and little pass gave Tuqiri a catch-and-dot try in the corner, which Roff converted.

Then the Scots got their try.  They had to score twice to get it.  First Andy Henderson was over but just before then George Gregan had tackled the referee and, in a dubious decision, it became a five-metre scrum to Scotland instead of a try.  But, mercifully, from the scrum, Chris Cusiter darted over.  Parks converted, 17-10.

After Iain Fullarton had a great 20-metre charge, a clever pass to Paul Cannon to Joe Roff gave Tuqiri his chance to score the second of his tries.

Henderson had a great break but the movement died.  The Scots did get the next score when parks goaled a penalty.  22-13 after 62 minutes.

That was it for the Scots.

Morgan Turinui, a late replacement in the Australian aside for indisposed Matt Giteau, cut through some tentative tackling to score near the posts.  39-13 after 67 minutes.

Then the Scots attacked and the television match official could not see whether Tom Smith had grounded the ball and the Wallabies survived some keen Scottish attacking, started by a clever kick by Gordon Ross.

Instead the Wallabies got the last try when Chris Latham, at fullback, came charging up to put Joe Roff, playing left-wing, over in Cusiter's tackle.  Roff missed the conversion and the final whistle went.

Pigs did not fly at Telstra Stadium.  They did not really look like getting off the ground but they made a lot of runaway running in their effort to do so.  Not that anything insulting intended by referring to pigs.  You could substitute royal stags, if you liked.

Man of the Match:  There were many fine Scottish efforts, especially those of Chris Cusiter, Tom Smith and Andy Henderson.  Lote Tuqiri, so active, was great for the Wallabies and so was Brendan Cannon but our man of the match -- forget that silly missed penalty -- was Joe Roff whose every touch of the ball was meaningful.

Moment of the Match:  There was Ben Henshilwood's dumping tackle on Wendell Sailor, there was Nathan Sharpe's clever flip to Paul Cannon but out moment was a bit of cleverness at the line-out when Gordon Bullock popped the ball to Jason White who went on a long run which ended at the Wallaby line.

Villain of the Match:  It was a keenly played match played at less intensity than the day's earlier match in Auckland but with grand good manners -- no bad guys.

The Teams:

Australia:  1 Alastair Baxter, 2 Brendan Cannon, 3 Bill Young, 4 Justin Harrison, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 6 Radike Samo, 7 Phil Waugh, 8 David Lyons, 9 George Gregan (c), 10 Steve Larkham, 11 Wendell Sailor, 12 Stirling Mortlock, 13 Morgan Turinui, 14 Lote Tuqiri, 15 Joe Roff
Reserves:  Chris Latham, Jeremy Paul, Matt Dunning, George Smith, Daniel Vickerman, Clyde Rathbone
Unused:  Matt Henjak

Scotland:  1 Bruce Douglas, 2 Gordon Bulloch, 3 Tom Smith, 4 Iain Fullarton, 5 Scott Murray (c), 6 Donnie Macfadyen, 7 Jason White, 8 Allister Hogg, 9 Chris Cusiter, 10 Daniel Parks, 11 Simon Webster, 12 Andrew Henderson, 13 Ben Hinshelwood, 14 Sean Lamont, 15 Hugo Southwell
Reserves:  Craig Hamilton, Jon Petrie, Gordon Ross, Craig Smith, Graeme Morrison
Unused:  Michael Blair, Stephen Scott

Attendance:  56143
Referee:  Lawrence m.

Points Scorers:

Australia
Tries:  Roff J.W.C. 1, Sailor W.J. 1, Turinui M.P. 1, Tuqiri L.D. 2
Conv:  Roff J.W.C. 3
Pen K.:  Roff J.W.C. 1

Scotland
Tries:  Cusiter C.P. 1
Conv:  Parks D.A. 1
Pen K.:  Parks D.A. 2

Australia 35 Scotland 15

If the crowd at the Telstra Dome in Melbourne came looking for a massacre, they would have left still thirsty for blood.  Australia beat Scotland 35-15, but the score does not reflect the determination of the tourists who asked some difficult questions of their hosts.

The injury-ravaged Scottish tourists were given exceedingly slim odds to get a result out here -- but their perseverance, temperance and outstanding forwards saw them go to the break only one point adrift.

Australia -- clearly ruffled by the manful Scots -- were outplayed at the set-piece and had immense difficultly reining in the Scottish raids around the fringes.

But thankfully for the partisan crowd, the Wallabies are blessed with a set of fine backs, and they located Scotland's jugular in the second half with some scything breaks orchestrated by skipper George Gregan.

Australia opened the scoring with Joe Roff slotting two penalties within the first nine minutes of play, and Scotland's goose looked well and truly cooked when centre Matt Giteau crossed for a well-worked try after 16 minutes.

But the tourists fought back, defending stoutly and surging up field with several impressive driving mauls to get within sight of the Australian posts -- and there they remained for the reminder of the half.

Under pressure, the Wallabies conceded four penalties -- all of which were converted by Scotland's Australian-born fly-half Dan Parks to leave the scores poised at 13-12 at the interval.

Australia hit back early in the second period when Tuqiri breached the Scottish defence after slick approach work, but Parks narrowed the deficit once again with another fine penalty.

Joe Roff then became only the fifth Australian to surpass 200 Test points with a penalty as the Wallabies superiority with ball in hand began to show.

Tuqiri dotted down his second try of the evening in the 63 minutes to leave the Scots 13 points adrift, and when Wendell Sailor plucking a poor Simon Webster kick out of the air to stroll home unopposed it was all over the tourists.

Despite the result, Scotland coach Matt Williams should allow his men a night on the beers.

After a doom-laden start to this tour, the positive approach they took into this game was highly admirable, and they were a number of pluses.

Fullback Hugo Southwell had an impressive debut, and their scrum and line-out work was immaculate -- and when they got near the Australian posts they came away with points.

Unfortunately, they still seem unable sustain the attack -- they put in all the good work, but fail to put the cherry on the top.  Should they learn to hold their nerve -- and find a game-breaking midfielder -- Scotland could soon win their place back at rugby's top table.

Man of the Match:  The Scottish pack showed grit, and Wallaby Clyde Rathbone had an exciting debut -- but the man of the moment was George Gregan who got his side moving with some shrewd distribution that was peppered with trademark reverse flicks.  Beautiful stuff!

Moment of the Match:  Scotland spent the day toiling upfield, only to self-destruct within sight of the line, allowing the Australians to counter from depth.  No where was this more painfully obvious than Australia's first try, when Gregan seized on a turn-over and send his men right down the middle of the park.

Villain of the Match:  There was a good old fashioned 30-man squabble in the second-half, and groundsmen probably deserve a kicking for a pitch that resemble the floor of a sports hall.  But this award goes to Australian coach Eddie Jones for his unsporting remarks about Scotland fly-half Dan Parks prior to the game.  Parks responded with a 100 percent kicking display.  If that's a bad player, we'd love to see a good one!

The Teams:

Australia:  1 Alastair Baxter, 2 Brendan Cannon, 3 Bill Young, 4 Justin Harrison, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 6 Radike Samo, 7 George Smith, 8 David Lyons, 9 George Gregan (c), 10 Steve Larkham, 11 Wendell Sailor, 12 Matt Giteau, 13 Clyde Rathbone, 14 Lote Tuqiri, 15 Joe Roff
Reserves:  Matthew Burke, Chris Latham, Jeremy Paul, Matt Dunning, Daniel Vickerman, Phil Waugh, Morgan Turinui

Scotland:  1 Bruce Douglas, 2 Gordon Bulloch, 3 Tom Smith, 4 Stuart Grimes, 5 Scott Murray (c), 6 Donnie Macfadyen, 7 Jason White, 8 Allister Hogg, 9 Chris Cusiter, 10 Daniel Parks, 11 Simon Webster, 12 Andrew Henderson, 13 Ben Hinshelwood, 14 Sean Lamont, 15 Hugo Southwell
Reserves:  Michael Blair, Iain Fullarton, Jon Petrie, Gordon Ross, Craig Smith, Graeme Morrison, Stephen Scott

Attendance:  38222
Referee:  Honiss p.

Points Scorers:

Australia
Tries:  Sailor W.J. 1, Giteau M.J. 1, Tuqiri L.D. 2
Conv:  Roff J.W.C. 2, Burke M.C. 1
Pen K.:  Roff J.W.C. 3

Scotland
Pen K.:  Parks D.A. 5

Australia 30 Scotland 9

A convincing second half performance at Murrayfield saw Australia come back from an uninspiring 9-9 half-time score to beat Scotland 30-9 on Saturday.

Once again it was fullback Matt Burke (pictured) who was the main man, scoring a try, three penalties and three conversions for a 20-point personal tally, fresh from his match-winning performance in Paris seven days ago.

Chris Latham and Joe Roff were the other try-scorers for Rod Macqueen's side, who ended nearly four halves of try-less rugby with an expansive second-half display in front of 64,000 fans in Edinburgh -- a record for a non Five/Six Nations Test.

Speaking after the game, Australia coach Rod Macqueen hailed his side's second-half performance, but credited a gallant dfensive display by the Scots, who never made it easy for the world champions.

"We've been finding new combinations, but we looked a bit lost in the first half.

"There is light at the end of the tunnel for us though, and we showed some good structure in the second half.

"Scotland looked to have done a lot of homework, especially on our lineouts.  They were the best team we've come up against in terms of lineouts."

On a surprisingly bright day given the recent flooding in Britain, it was Australian kicking machine Matt Burke who broke the deadlock with a penalty in what was to be a kicking-dominated half after the Scotland scrum made the first of many infringements.

Gregor Townsend made a nervous kicking start for Scotland, putting wide a drop goal early on, but keeping his cool to equalise at 3-3 with a penalty five minutes after Burke's opener.

Glimpses of try-scoring chances were rare in the first half, and as the usually prolific Burke hooked a penalty wide of the posts, the capacity crowd at Murrayfield upped the volume, and appeared to inspire their troops to a string of rolling mauls in Australian territory, ultimately coming away empty handed though.

Townsend kicked Scotland in to the lead soon after with an easy penalty in front of the posts, only for Burke to tie the scores again at 6-6 only two minutes later.

Burke, fresh from kicking Australia to victory with six penalties in Paris against France was increasingly having a big say in proceedings as the game slowed down even further, both packs failing to maintain discipline in and around the ruck.

It was Burke indeed who gave the world champions the lead back after 29 minutes with yet another penalty, before Townsend equalled the scores a minute later with the boot.

Scotland had the chance to snatch a half-time lead after their drive in to the left corner gained momentum in the Australia 22.

As play ground to a halt though the Scot were awarded yet another penalty.  This time the kick from the right touch was too much of an ask for Townsend, as the sides went in neck-and-neck at 9-9.

A dour 50 minutes of solid defensive rugby was finally broken down by the Wallabies, who after a period of sustained pressure on halfway broke through the centres with Stirling Mortlock at pace.  Mortlock held his nerve though and waited for the superbly timed diagonal run of fullback Chris Latham, who scithed through the three-quarters from the 22 for the try, converted by Burke.

The Scottish defensive resolve was always apparent though, and even the most hanging of crossfield Garryowens could not rattle them, as Australia probed in the 22.

The introduction of Elton Flatley at stand-off appeared to have ignited the Australian back line, as their more adventutous play started to develop from depth instead of the stale flat lines of the first 60 minutes, where Kafer looked horizontally more often than forward.

Good rucking from both packs ensured that the ball stayed mainly in the grasp of the forwards, but Scotland's Gregor Townsend and Chris Paterson looked like illuminating the play if only their eight could get them that elusive ball in hand.

The Wallabies though gradually wore down the Scottish battlers upfront, and as the ball sat at the feet of the Australian ruck on halfway, Cordingley spun the ball out to the left, with the three-quarters gaining ground on their weary opponents.

Daniel Herbert surged forwards, and as the defence came up in his face on the 22, shipped the ball out left to the flank for Chris Latham to deftly palm the ball in to Joe Roff's hands five metres out in the corner.

Only Cameron Murray stood between Roff and the try line, and Roff burst through him to claim Australia's second try of the game, with Burke making the touch-line conversion look easy for a 23-9 lead going in to the last 20 minutes.

Australia started to show their class as the second half entered its final stages, with their willingness to get the ball out wide combining with the apparent capitulation of the superb defence shown by Scotland in the first half.

The third try of the game came from the kicking hero Matt Burke, when Joe Roff came off his left wing to burst in to the outside centre channel as the ball was worked right by the Wallabies.

His cutting run on halfway saw him burst through the weak attempted tackle by Allan Bulloch.  Roff sped down the right touchline, before drawing the last defender on the 22 and passing to Matt Burle on the outside to dive in the corner.

Again, not even the sternest of kicking tests could curtail Burke's inspired kicking form, as he slotted over from the right touchline with ease.

The Murrayfield crowd willed Scotland on for a consolation try, but it was not forthcoming, and the day belonged to the world champion Wallabies, who ended the first of their Tests on British soil for this season as 30-9 winners.

The teams:

Australia:  1 Fletcher Dyson, 2 Michael Foley, 3 Bill Young, 4 John Eales (c), 5 David Giffin, 6 Matt Cockbain, 7 George Smith, 8 Toutai Kefu, 9 Sam Cordingley, 10 Rod Kafer, 11 Matthew Burke, 12 Dan Herbert, 13 Stirling Mortlock, 14 Joe Roff, 15 Chris Latham
Reserves:  Mark Connors, Elton Flatley, Nathan Grey, Jeremy Paul, Glenn Panoho, Chris Whitaker, Jim Williams

Scotland:  1 George Graham, 2 Steve Brotherstone, 3 Tom Smith, 4 Stuart Grimes, 5 Scott Murray, 6 Budge Pountney (c), 7 Jon Petrie, 8 Simon Taylor, 9 Bryan Redpath, 10 Gregor Townsend, 11 Jon Steel, 12 Alan Bulloch, 13 John Leslie, 14 Cammie Murray, 15 Chris Paterson
Reserves:  Richard Metcalfe, Gordon McIlwham, Gordon Bulloch, Jason White
Unused:  Graeme Beveridge, Duncan Hodge, Craig Joiner

Referee:  White c.

Points Scorers:

Australia
Tries:  Burke M.C. 1, Latham C.E. 1, Roff J.W.C. 1
Conv:  Burke M.C. 3
Pen K.:  Burke M.C. 3

Scotland
Pen K.:  Townsend G.P.J. 3