Australia deny Scots at the death once more

One point, a lousy single point. For a second match in succession, Scotland allowed Australia to come from behind and snatch a victory by the tightest of margins in a game of high drama and huge emotions. This loss didn’t hurt as much as the World Cup quarter-final, but that was cold comfort for Scotland head coach Vern Cotter and his exhausted players who gave their all but once again came up frustratingly short on the scoreboard.

“It comes down to fine margins,” said Cotter. “I wouldn’t necessarily say the best team won but I’m incredibly proud of the players, who played with immense courage and threw themselves at it. We didn’t get the rub of the green at times. We’re a little bit emotional once again.” Cotter has a point. Scotland were the better side for much of this game and there was much to admire in their performance: Huw Jones’ two tries on his Murrayfield debut, the performance of their two opensides at the breakdown, John Barclay’s incredible tackle count, the fortitude of Scotland’s two young props, and Ross Ford’s evergreen performance on his hundredth cap. Yet when the game entered the final quarter it was the Wallabies who came on strong, and Scotland who leaked the penalties that allowed them to sneak this victory with a late try from Tevita Kuridrani.

Scotland had started well, striking hard and early when skipper Greig Laidlaw kicked a penalty after just two minutes following a bullocking break from Alex Dunbar. They had clearly learnt from Wales’ lethargic start and flew into contact, an approach which yielded a first try that was stunning in its simplicity. It came after just seven minutes when Finn Russell chipped over the flat Aussie defence, the ball bouncing at right angles and straight into the hands of the onrushing Huw Jones, the young centre going over from the 10-metre line.

The Australians seemed remarkably unflustered though, going through the phases and edging both possession and territory. They might even have registered a try after four minutes had prop Sekope Kepu not knocked on while driving over Scotland’s line. Their eventual riposte was a more intricate offering which started with Bernard Foley looping to make the extra man, Dane Haylett-Petty steaming up the middle before offloading to Reece Hodge for the centre to skip inside Tim Visser’s attempted cover tackle for the Wallabies’ first try.

Scotland’s inexperienced scrum held up incredibly well, and even drew the first penalty from the Wallabies, but when it collapsed midway through the half the Scotland front row were adjudged the culprits and Foley pinged a touchline penalty between the posts to tie the scores at 10-10.

Not that Scotland collapsed. Indeed, Barclay, who moved to No. 8 when Ryan Wilson went off with an injury after five minutes, and the Gray brothers registered a phenomenal tackle count and were immense at the breakdown. With the Wallabies stymied as Scotland forced them into an uncharacteristically high error count, the hosts pulled ahead again after Visser went close and then Jones sliced through attempted tackles by Kuridrani and Haylett-Petty for a superb solo try.

Scotland turned around 17-10 ahead and richly deserved their lead. Yet the Aussie battling spirit is one of life’s ever-presents, and after the break they came out fighting, Foley kicking a penalty within seconds of the restart. Scotland displayed a commendable resilience though, the ever-threatening Stuart Hogg dancing down the line before being dragged down, only for Jonny Gray to be driven over from close range by his brother. Laidlaw, so often Scotland’s saviour with the boot, saw his conversion come back off the inside of a post; it was, as he said later, to prove a costly lick of paint.

Yet again Australia inched their way back into contention, this time when Scotland’s scrum went down immediately after debutant loosehead Allan Dell had been replaced by Gordon Reid, Foley kicking the penalty to bring Australia back to within six points. The Wallabies were now beginning to slowly exert a stranglehold over the game, gradually beginning to monopolise possession through ground-shaking charges from their big forwards, especially the gargantuan Will Skelton.

Scotland were unable to relieve the incessant pressure as Australia sensed a breakthrough. A score looked inevitable as the yellow-clad forwards parked themselves in Scotland’s 22, only for Skelton to be yellow-carded for a crude lunge at Johnny Gray at a ruck.

But if Scotland thought that Australia going down to 14 men might blunt their attack, they were mistaken. Despite being short-handed, the visitors dominated possession and with Scotland leaking penalties – the second-half count was eight against Scotland and just two against Australia – it seemed a try must come. The nature of that try, though, was a surprise, Kuridrani simply running through Peter Horne and Jones with five minutes to go, Hogg tackling the big centre but not soon enough to stop him reaching out for a try. The conversion from in front of the posts was accompanied by bad-mannered booing from the home fans, but Foley simply ignored it and hammered in the conversion that gave Australia another heartbreaking one-point win.