Frustration proved to be name of this game

Scotland skipper Greg Laidlaw is left grounded and devastated on the final whistle at Murrayfield. Russell’s cute dink over the very flat Aussie defensive line which gave Jones a clear gallop under the posts and the second arriving 15 minutes later when he scampered over after the Scots had worked their way up the left flank.

The only blip of a first half they ended 17-10 to the good came when the Wallabies’ backs turned on the style with a well-worked move that discombobulated the Scots’ defence and allowed Hodge to dot down for a try that Foley converted.

The Scots extended their lead when Johnny Gray ploughed over the line under a guddle of bodies for a try given on the say-so of the TMO, but then Laidlaw had his uncharacter-istic bout of the yips.

Australia were expected to target the Scots’ rookie front row but they mostly held their own in the scrums, though those at the coalface were overshadowed by their colleagues in the back row.

Despite the disruption of losing Ryan Wilson to an ankle injury early on and then having his replacement, John Hardie, forced off, leaving them with lock Grant Gilchrist packing down at blindside flanker, they were extremely effective against a worldclassWallaby unit.

John Barclay showed the class that makes his two-year exile from the squad baffling.

Australia played most of the last 10 minutes a man down after replacement Skelton was sin-binned for trying to squash Johnny Gray in a ruck, but they got the vital try when Kuridrani was brought down but reached behind him to ground the ball.

Foley’s conversion put them ahead for the first time in the match but the Scots can feel aggrieved as the ref missed a knock-on that would have halted the Aussies’ advance.

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