Vibrant Horne feels the force
SCOTLAND had scored two wins over Australia in 21 attempts between 1982 and 2016, a litany of frustration that was encapsulated by a gutwrenching World Cup quarter-final defeat at Twickenham two years ago.
Vern Cotter was in charge then, laying the foundations from which Gregor Townsend has created a gloriously confident new Scotland who have now beaten the Wallabies twice – for the first time in Sydney, and on Saturday by a record margin at Murrayfield.
This thriller featured eight Scottish tries despite the loss of their greatest attacking threat, Stuart Hogg, who damaged a thigh in the warm-up.
His replacement, Sale wing Byron McGuigan, scored two of them and bagged the man-of-the-match award, with the rest shared between Ali Price, Sean Maitland, Jonny Gray, Huw Jones, JOE SCHMIDT is gearing Ireland up for their toughest Six Nations yet after completing a clean sweep of November victories by beating Argentina in Dublin.
Jacob Stockdale’s two tries and a score for CJ Stander saw Ireland home, with the Pumas’ three-try flurry too little, too late. Schmidt’s side have also beaten South Africa and Fiji this month but he admitted the Six Nations will be a different beast. “They’ve got more difficult every year,” he said. much to admire from the men in blue, even if the defence was at times more scrambling than solid. There was deft handling and smart support lines from the forwards, sharp gamemanagement from half-backs Price and Finn Russell, power and finesse from Jones and Peter Horne in midfield. By the end, Murrayfield was rocking. “It’s giving me goosebumps just thinking about the last couple of games,” said Horne. “It’s hard not to get emotional when you’re singing the anthem but it’s really, really special. “We’ve laid down another marker. We showed we weren’t just a flash in the pan after running New Zealand close. We’ve come out and produced. We want
SPORT IN BRIEF
to make this place a fortress going into the Six Nations.”
With the Scots playing just twice in Edinburgh – against France on February 11 and England a fortnight later – Horne knows their chances could hinge on them making the most of their home advantage.
“The crowd really did make it special the last couple of weeks and hopefully we can keep playing like we are going into the Six Nations,” he said.
“We’ve made a statement. Everyone has got to take us seriously now. England will still fancy themselves, they’re flying at the moment, but it’s a challenge we can’t wait for.
“As soon as the whistle went last week against the All Blacks we just wanted to play them again the next day.
“That’s the feeling in the camp. We want to take on the best and test ourselves, not just be a team that has a few good games now and again.
“We want to get some real consistency into our game. It’s going to be challenging but it’s certainly something we’re
all up for.”