Townsend delighted as Scots stun Wallabies

Australia 19 Scotland 24

The Scotland coach, Gregor Townsend, was a happy and proud man after watching his side beat Australia for the first time in four years during an exhilarating game in Sydney.

British and Irish Lions call-up Finn Russell signed off from Scotland duties with 11 points from a try and three conversions, as Duncan Taylor and Hamish Watson also touched down.

Israel Folau crossed over for a brace of first-half tries for the hosts, with Bernard Foley’s conversion making it 17-12 at the break as they recovered from being 10-0 down. Will Genia scored Australia’s third midway through the second half but the visitors held on.

It was Scotland’s second successive triumph over the Wallabies Down Under, following a victory in Newcastle in 2012, while they also gained a modicum of revenge for their defeat in the 2015 World Cup quarter-final.

“The last 15 minutes are fresh in the mind and they required huge effort because the Wallabies had a lot of possession,” Townsend said. “You could see their line break when we were only five points up in our 22 with the crowd behind them. The effort to get back on the ball, and Alex Dunbar managing to get the turnover, it was fantastic.

“If you have to defend 10 to 15 minutes against a team as brilliant in attack as that, you need strong bonds, and that is what this team has.”

Captain John Barclay admitted the final minutes were equally nerve-racking on the field. “It was a bit tense at the end but the work that had gone in prior to that is what won the game,” he said. “They play a fast game, that is as fast as I can remember playing in. The fact that we managed to slow the ball down helped. The boys put everything out there, which is all you can ask.”

Michael Cheika, the Australia head coach, was full of praise for Scotland. “We knew what we were in for and we got exactly what we expected,” he said.