Scotland humble Australia, with a 53-24 demolition of the visitors. Australia – who ended the game with 13 men – had never lost to Scotland with a margin of more than nine points.
Scotland Humble Australia
It was Scotland who got off the the better start with a Finn Russell penalty, followed by a debut try for Byron McGuigan. 10-0 the score with Scotland cruising.
Scotland looked dangerous in attack with Russell and Price pulling the strings of a threatening Scottish attack, but it was two tries in two minutes by Kuridrani that gave the visitors a shock lead following some clumsy play by the hosts.
Sekope Red Carded
The lead wasn’t to last long as Sekope Kepu saw red for a no armed clear-out at the ruck.
Sekope Kepu red-carded for a violent and needless clear out with his shoulder on Hamish Watson. pic.twitter.com/sZqUCvkKcu
— RugbyLAD (@RugbyLAD7) 25 November 2017
It stunted the Aussie’s momentum and Ali Price clawed his way over to give Scotland a half time lead.
Half Time: Scotland 17-12 Australia
Australia came out after the break on top. Beale, battered and bloodied crossing over to tie the scores, Foley missing the conversion and the chance to get his side in the lead with a calamitous attempt.
In a back-and-forth tie it wasn’t too long before Scotland clawed their way back into the lead. Sean Maitland found himself in space, surrounded only by forwards, easily sprinting past and into the corner.
Two more tries followed within the next 10 minutes for the hosts, as they passed their record points tally at home against Australia. Johnny Gray and Huw Jones finishing off some beautifully worked tries. The latter from a ‘cheeky quick tap’ after a penalty that looked like it was getting kicked to touch by Finn Russell.
McGuigan, in a Man of the Match performance grabbed his second of the afternoon. That was swiftly followed by a try for Lopeti Timani for Australia, to show the Wallabies could attack, but they were being shaded by the Bravehearts.
John Barclay then followed up some impressive breakdown work with a big carry down the centre of the park, forcing missed tackles and he slid in under the posts. The crowd were in rapturous applause, before more late drama set Australia to end the game with 13 men.
As McGuigan sped down on the sideline towards the corner, Beale was deemed to have deliberately knocked the ball out of play. That resulted in a yellow card and a penalty. Plenty of shouts for a penalty try from fans came to nothing, but emotions ran high after the cynical act.
The lack of a penalty try wasn’t to matter though, as Scotland got on with the job at hand. Stuart McInally finished the test match in style, Scotland passing 50 points.
? Scotland 53-24 Australia
Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend is all-smiles after the Scots record victory over Australia. #SCOvAUS pic.twitter.com/tAA102xrLk
— BBC Sport Scotland (@BBCSportScot) November 25, 2017
To understand just how much of a humbling this was, Scotland had only ever beaten Australia by a margin of 9 or less and had never scored more than 24 points at home against the Aussie’s.
Scotland Humble Australia With Stunning Rugby
It was never Scotland’s intent to keep the ball tight and win a scrappy game; despite having a huge advantage up front. Their tight five carried well throughout and the front-row made some lovely breaks through Darren Marfo, Jamie Bhatti and Zander Fagerson.
Johnny Gray was a potent threat at the line-out, which they turned into a successful driving maul on more than one occasion. They troubled Australia at the breakdown, Barclay sneaking a turnover amongst a bag full of tackles.
This gave a platform for the backline to ‘break free’. Ali Price and Finn Russell leading the charge, but with dangerous runners all around them. Huw Jones looked very good at outside centre, and Maitland and McGuigan looked solid in the back three.
Scottish Kicking Game Hurt Australia
Often teams kick ball away and viewers end up watching ‘rugby tennis’ or see the ball bobble into touch and get cleared from the resulting line-out. This was not the case from the Scottish back today. Russell only had one really bad kick all game – that was a penalty kicked to the corner, of which he missed.
Scotland found space behind the Australia defensive line often, which was rushing up quickly. The Wallabies missed Israel Folau (who is on sabbatical).
End of International Window
This game represented the end of the Autumn International Window. The Scottish squad members will return to their respective clubs for their domestic and regional competitions.
The Australians will take some time off to lick their wounds, before beginning their Super Rugby preseason training.
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