The Wallabies have beaten Scotland in a hard fought game at Murrayfield to run out 23-22 winners. It was looking like Scotland would exact revenge for their Quarter Final loss but a late try to Tevita Kuridrani broke Scottish hearts and keep the Wallabies Grand Slam hopes alive.
The Match
It was a frantic start in the opening five minutes with both sides attempting to get off to a big start with the ball going to the wide channels in early attacking raids.
Greig Laidlaw opened the scoring with an early penalty for Scotland but the Aussies went close to hitting back straight away but a dropped ball from Sekope Kepu right on the Scotland line undid some good work following a Stephen Moore break.
Adam Coleman’s game came to an early halt as he was forced to leave the field with a knee injury after just five minutes with Rob Simmons taking his place.
Following a penalty after Henry Speight spilt a high ball, Scotland had the first try of the match with a nice chip in behind the Wallabies defensive line from Finn Russell getting a nice bounce for Huw Jones as he nipped in ahead of Israel Folau and he had a simple run to the line. Laidlaw’s simple conversion gave Scotland a ten-point lead after as many minutes.
David Pocock earned a huge relieving penalty for Australia and from the resulting lineout Reece Hodge has his second try in as many weeks with Bernard Foley and Israel Folau putting on a nice backline move with Dane Haylett-Petty making good metres before sending Hodge on his way. Foley converted for a 10-7 score line after 15 minutes.
After a slow start from the Wallabies, they started to get some confidence in their game with the backline starting find their feet with a few penalty advantages being put to good use with Folau, amongst others, starting to find a few gaps.
After 20 minutes the scores were level at 10-10 with Foley converting a penalty goal after a scrum penalty on Scotland’s feed in their own half.
That was cancelled out almost immediately with Huw Jones scoring his second of the game after he got through a bad missed tackle from Kuridrani as Scotland found space out wide in the lead up and punish a missed clearing kick to touch off Laidlaw’s missed attempt at penalty goal. Laidlaw’s conversion made it 17-10.
Neither side could add to their score for the rest of the half with Scotland looking the better of the two sides, enjoying the better of the possession and territory and took their chances well.
The Wallabies started the second half well and an early Foley penalty had them back on track as the margin was reduced to four points.
A loose lineout from the Wallabies had them on the back foot in their own 22 and from a scrum Scotland exposed the wide defenders again and Laidlaw found Jonny Gray who reached out to score the hosts third try of the game to make it 22-13.
The Wallabies had rare chances to attack but could have been better served by hanging onto the ball with a few miracle passes being attempted in contact with nothing to show for it as they had the Scottish defence scrambling.
One area where they did have the upper hand were the scrums and Foley kept the Wallabies in touch with his third penalty goal from a handy position.
The Wallabies had some more chances to close the gap but couldn’t make anything of it as more patience in attack could have reaped rewards another attempted offload was spilt.
Scotland had limited attacking chances but had one ruled out for obstruction to let Australia off the hook.
The Wallabies spurned a shot at penalty goal and opted for the lineout and looked to have Scotland on the back foot but Will Skelton was binned for using his shoulder in a cleanout to earn himself a ten minute rest.
Even though down to 14 men, the Wallabies still attacked and again opted against the three points and were finally rewarded as Tevita Kuridrani made up for his mixed game and stormed his way through the defensive line and stretched out to score under the posts. Foley’s conversion put the Wallabies in front by one point at 23-22 with only four minutes remaining.
It looked like a scrum win had sealed the win but Scotland were given one last chance with a free kick and went 19 phases and 3 minutes after the 80 minutes but a knock on ended the game to see Australia run out 23-22 winners.
[one_half last=”no”]
The Game Changer
Will Skelton got binned and with the Wallabies down to 14 men, they opted against shots at penalty goal and the late try to Kurirani sealed the win
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[one_half last=”yes”]
The G&GR MOTM
Not often it goes to a player on the losing side but Huw Joneshad a huge game scoring two tries for Scotland and looked dangerous in attack.
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The Details
Score & Scorers
[one_half last=”no”]WALLABIES 23
Tries: Hodge, Kuridrani
Conversions: Foley 2
Penalties: Foley 3
[/one_half]
[one_half last=”yes”]SCOTLAND 22
Tries: Jones 2, J Gray
Conversions: Laidlaw 2
Penalties: Laidlaw
[/one_half]
Cards
69 mins – Skelton – Yellow
Crowd
65,395
