Scotland have snatched a penalty goal after the final siren to defeat the Wallabies 9-6 to retain the Hopetoun Cup.
Scotland can thank their gritty defence for the win, while the home side let slip many chances to score that ultimately ended up costing them a win — a scenario that has been seen by many a Wallabies fan before.
The weather in Newcastle had everyone confused, including the singer who came up with an alternative version of the Australian anthem for his ‘noble’ servants.
In conditions that were far from ideal for rugby, the game failed to reach any great heights.
The home side had the better of the opening exchanges and started to find their feet but were undone by a penalty for hanging onto the ball with Scotland showing they were up for the challenge despite a lean run of recent results.
The Scots took their time to get into the game and went close to opening the scoring in the 7th minute in their first real use of the ball but poor handling let them down when it mattered most.
It wouldn’t be the only time the Scots had an attacking opportunity go begging as two more chances went down after excellent lead up work by their forwards as it was clear the backs were going to be in for a long night in the worsening conditions.
The Aussies were trying to get it out of their own end but didn’t appear patient enough by attempting to kick into the teeth of southerly gale that saw kicks go only a matter of metres forward and give Scotland easy field position.
The Scots came closest to scoring the opening after what looked an easy catch was dropped by Will Genia and it needed debut winger Joe Tomane to scamper back and save the day.
With all the dropped ball, the forwards got to test out their scrummaging and the home side looked very comfortable led by the front row trio of Slipper, Moore and Palmer.
The rest of the Aussie pack also did themsleves proud with great work around the park, especially from Nathan Sharpe who seemed to roll back the years with another excellent performance.
However, it was Scotland who opened the scoring in the 23rd minute through a penalty to their flyhalf Greig Laidlaw after an earlier miss in the tricky conditions.
The Aussies then finally got their hands on the ball in the Scottish half and made it to the 22 after some time, but a simple turn over allowed Scotland to boot the ball with the aid of a tail wind and make Australia do the hard yards back up the field.
Scotland extended their lead to 6-0 with another penalty to Laidlaw after an indiscretion from Anthony Faingaa.
Australia finally got to attack the Scottish line in the 31st minute and after pressuring the Scots into a penalty, Pocock decided to go for 3 — much to the dismay to the crowd. ‘Aussie’ Mike Harris converted to get the Aussies on the board.
The Wallabies opened the second half with Harris converting a penalty. Even with Harris’s excellent form, it was a difficult kick with the goalposts shaking in the breeze.
From the resulting restart, Scotland kicked out on the full and Digby Ioane was able to inject himself into the backline for one of the few times during the night.
Will Genia was using his kicks more effectively in the second half and pinned Scotland in their 22 with one effort but the good work was undone by another turnover from the resulting lineout.
The Wallabies then started to assert their dominance and with the wind at their backs, played for field position.
After penalty miss from Harris from halfway, the next penalty was kicked into the corner and replacement lock Rob Simmons thought he had scored after an attacking raid with many phases but he was denied by the TMO, who couldn’t see if the ball was grounded in the driving rain.
Scotland then showed tremendous courage to keep out numerous waves of attack from the Wallabies and after what seemed like an age, finally got some relief by way of a penalty after the Wallabies appeared to run out of ideas in attack with players not hitting the ball up with pace and hanging onto the ball.
With the game winding down, the home side showed how desperate they were to get the win with Berrick Barnes attempting a drop goal that went wide, as the ‘sea of boo’ made themselves heard.
With the clock winding down Scotland then undid all their good work and allowed Harris one more chance to get the home side in front, but he managed only to trouble the worms as the kick barely got above the height of the crossbar to leave the scores level.
With only minutes remaining, a poor kick from Australia from their own half went dead and left Scotland with one last chance to snatch the win.
After the final siren came the most exciting part of the game. Scotland had an attacking scrum and from it Jaco Peyper awarded Scotland a penalty and up stepped Laidlaw. He duly converted to give Scotland a gritty 9-6 win.
Scotland now head to the Pacific to thaw out while the Wallabies need to regroup before taking on the Welsh in Brisbane on Saturday night.
Scotland 9 – Laidlaw 3 pens def Wallabies 6 – Harris 2 pens.
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