JUST CALL IT A PERFECT 10
Scotland soar with virtuoso fly-half as Russell pulls the strings and orchestrates an audacious win Down Under
THE 1999 Five Nations win over France in Paris. The 2010 Six Nations victory over Ireland at Croke Park in Dublin. Back-to-back wins over Argentina in the same year down in South America.
The dramatic 9-6 last-minute success over Australia in a monsoon in Newcastle, New South Wales five years ago.
Now add to that list of famous away victories the one over a fullstrength Australia side in Sydney.
Gregor Townsend’s heroes will go down as being part of a side that secured the famous win with a superb performance in the Wallabies’ own backyard.
Debates will rage long into the night over where it stands but there is a strong argument that it was the best away win in 18 years.
It is certainly up there with the day current head coach Townsend was one of five try scorers as Scotland demolished France 36-22 in Paris to secured the Five Nations title.
Winning in the southern hemisphere is never easy, especially against the third-best team in the world, although after this victory Scotland are heading for those dizzy heights.
This high-tempo, exciting game at the Allianz Stadium will be remembered for a long time by Scotland rugby fans for so long starved of big wins away from home.
It will also be remembered as the day Lions-bound Finn Russell showed exactly why he had been called up by Warren Gatland. His man-of-the-match performance also showed why the decision of the Lions boss not to pick him in the first place was a bad mistake.
Among the world-class stars on the park such as Aussie full-back Israel Folau, who scored two tries, and scrum-half Will Genia, who got the other, it was the Scottish No10 who shone the brightest.
He scored a try after charging down an attempted clearance kick from Genia. He was also involved in the build-up to the third touchdown for Scotland by Hamish Watson. In between, Duncan Taylor intercepted a pass from Tatafu Polota-Nau to score under the posts.
Russell ran the show from first whistle to last in an outstanding display. What made his coolness under the most extreme pressure even more impressive was the fact he had been a marked man.
Australia head coach Michael Cheika had gone public with his orders to his players to ‘get in his face’ but he did not let that bother him.
The Aussies tried all they could to put him off his game, at times illegally. Twice he was taken out by late tackles. On another occasion, Bernard Foley was shown a yellow card for blocking him as he chased down his own kick.
Scotland prop forward Allan Dell, who is also heading to New Zealand after his Lions call-up, came off the bench early in the second half to strengthen the scrum.
He did okay but did not make the same impression as Russell.
To be fair, nobody did. This was a masterclass of how to play 10 by a man who is at the top of his game.
The Aussies’ best player was full-back Folau, who scored two tries although both were preventable. The first came when he was given far too much space by a far-too-farapart Scotland defence to run in to score. Foley converted.
His second first-half touchdown came from a cross kick from Foley that saw him out-jump Scotland full-back Greig Tonks too easily.
Scotland’s first-half points came from a long-range penalty kick from Tonks and that superb try from Russell after charging down the clearance kick from Genia.
The ball bounced kindly into his arms, which allowed him to run under the posts and make his conversion a lot easier.
The other Scotland first-half try came from Taylor after he anticipated a telegraphed pass from Polata-Nau to score unopposed. Russell nailed the conversion.
Ryan Wilson, who had got involved in a pushing and shoving match with second row Adam Coleman in the first minute, was yellow-carded three minutes before the break.
It could be argued he took one for the team as he killed the ball on his own line just as it looked like the Aussies were about to notch a try.
The first score of the second half came from Genia, who managed to squeeze through a sea of bodies to score. Foley got the extras.
Hooker Ross Ford came on to win his 109th cap for his country, which equals Chris Paterson’s record.
It was a special moment but a bit lost in the context of the fantastic Scotland win.
On the hour mark, a fine move started by Russell and involving Tonks, Lee Jones and Taylor, led to Watson going over. Russell kicked the conversion.
With 10 minutes left, the Australians were getting nervous and lacked accuracy in their attacking moves. They also butchered a couple of easy chances to score.
Then, with five minutes remaining, the Wallabies decided against an easy Foley penalty in favour of kicking for the corner and going for a converted try to win the game.
Yet again they made a mess of the line-out, to the relief of the Scots who were able to clear.
In the last play of the game, the Scotland defence held firm yet again and Alex Dunbar effected a turnover.
That was the signal for huge celebrations, at the end of a famous 80 minutes that will live long in the memory.
Next up for Scotland is the final match of their tour against Fiji in Suva next weekend, where they will be confident of making it three out of three.
The South Sea Islanders beat Italy at the weekend but the Scots will go into the match full of confidence.
Six players have yet to play on the tour but Townsend is likely to pick his squad for the Fiji game simply on merit and will have no time for sentiment.
That would mean that stars of the Australia game like Jonny Gray, who was superb in the line-out, Ali Price, who was a livewire at the back of the scrum, and Watson, who tackled hard on the openside, can expect another run-out for Townsend’s heroes.