Qantas Wallabies prevail in one-point Edinburgh thriller
The Qantas Wallabies have escaped Murrayfield Stadium with a dramatic one-point victory over Scotland, keeping their Grand Slam hopes alive in a 23-22 cliffhanger.
A try to centre Tevita Kuridrani with five minutes left on the clock was the decisive play in the match, after a first half double from 22-year-old Scotland centre Huw Jones had the home side ahead 17-10 at the break.
Kuridrani atoned for an earlier miss on Jones which led to the Scotsman’s second try, reaching out to score next to the posts in the 75th minute with the Wallabies down a man with Will Skelton in the sin bin.
The win was Australia’s second consecutive one-point victory over Scotland, following its 35-34 quarter-final win at last year’s Rugby World Cup.
Scotland burst out of the gate in front of a 65,395-strong Murrayfield crowd with inside centre Alex Dunbar’s strong run putting skipper Greig Laidlaw in range to draw first blood with a penalty goal after the Australian defence was caught offside.
Moments later, the situation became worse for the Aussies when Scotland flyhalf Finn Russell put a neat kick over the defence which sat up perfectly off the bounce for a charging Jones to race away and score. Laidlaw’s conversion opened up a 10-0 lead for Scotland inside the opening ten minutes of play, however the Wallabies responded quickly through a brilliantly-executed play from the lineout.
Bernard Foley worked a run-around play after the Wallabies won the ball just inside the Scottish half, linking with a sweeping Dane Haylett-Petty who in turn offloaded to send Reece Hodge away for his second Test try.
Soon after, Foley levelled the scores when Scotland were penalised for collapsing the scrum but the relief was short-lived for Australia. The home side recaptured the lead when Jones crossed for his second try after skipping past Kuridrani after some slick hands out wide.
Going into the break trailing by seven, the Wallabies were given a gift three points to start the second half but again it was Scotland who were first to the tryline when lock Jonny Gray grounded the ball despite the attention of three Wallabies defenders in the 48th minute.
Foley added another penalty goal to close the gap to six points, but thats where the scoring would cease for a further 20 minutes until Kuridrani provided the match-winning moment.
The giant centre reached out with his right arm and slammed the ball down next to the right upright despite being pulled down short of the line by Scottish fullback Stuart Hogg. The try came after replacement forward Will Skelton was shown a yellow card in the 69th minute.
The end-to-end contest was punctuated by passages of brilliant attacking Rugby from both sides, while the breakdown battle was as physical as ever. Bernard Foley’s perfect night with the boot was good enough to counter for the three-tries-to-two margin in favour of the home side, with Scotland captain Greig Laidlaw’s rare off day with the boot ultimately costing his team.
The Qantas Wallabies will continue their Spring Tour campaign next Sunday morning (7am AEDT) against France in Paris.
Match note: Both teams wore a red poppy on their jersey sleeve to commemorate Remembrance Day. A moment’s silence was observed before kick off.
How it happened:
3 mins: Greig Laidlaw pen AUS 0-3 SCO
8 mins: Huw Jones try, Grieg Laidlaw con AUS 0-10 SCO
13 mins: Reece Hodge try, Bernard Foley con AUS 7-10 SCO
23 mins: Bernard Foley pen AUS 10-10 SCO
27 mins: Huw Jones try, Greig Laidlaw con AUS 10-17 SCO
HALF TIME
42 mins: Bernard Foley pen AUS 13-17 SCO
48 mins: Jonny Gray try AUS 13-22 SCO
56 mins: Bernard Foley pen AUS 16-22 SCO
76 mins: Tevita Kuridrani try, Bernard Foley con AUS 23-22
FULL TIME
Australia 23 (Reece Hodge, Tevita Kuridrani tries; Bernard Foley 2 cons; 3 pens) defeated Scotland 22 (Huw Jones 2, Jonny Gray tries; Greig Laidlaw 2 cons; pen)
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