Scotland beat Australia to sign off Autumn Nations Series in style

Scotland enjoyed an impressive winning end to the year by halting Australia’s hopes of an Autumn Nation Series Grand Slam with a powerful 27-13 victory at Murrayfield.

Captain Sione Tuipulotu (22′), Duhan van der Merwe (51′) – who again moved ahead of team-mate Darcy Graham as his country’s leading scorer with his 30th try – Josh Bayliss (67′) and Finn Russell (71′) ensured there would be no repeat of the 37-12 triumph which sealed the Grand Slam against the Scots 40 years ago before Harry Potter grabbed a consolation try for the Wallabies with five minutes remaining.

In truth, Scotland could have won by more as they passed up several chances to increase their lead by opting against taking easy points from penalties, but it is an ideal statement win, their fourth against the Wallabies in their past five matches, ahead of the Six Nations campaign which kicks off on February 1.

They host Italy in their tournament opener in front of another expectant 67,000 sell-out crowd at Murrayfield.

Australia lost talented centre Joseph Sua’ali’i to a suspected broken wrist in the first half, and must regroup before they fly to Dublin for Schmidt’s reunion with Ireland on the final leg of their European tour on Saturday.

The most impressive aspect of Scotland’s latest win over the Wallabies was the manner of it. They played well within themselves for large parts of the match yet still ran out comfortable winners.

When they take stock to analyse this match, they will realise they left plenty of points on the Murrayfield pitch as the visitors struggled to cope with the pace and sharpness of the Scottish backs and the muscle of their forwards.

Can they elevate their levels to compete with France and Ireland in the Six Nations? That must be the next target for such a talented squad.

“I think there’s plenty more in the tank for Scotland,” said former Scotland flanker John Barclay on TNT Sports. “What really encouraged me, during the build up to this week, was Scotland embracing the fact that they had to win today, and they did it well, they did it emphatically.

“When the game opened up, we saw them bizarrely find more of their structure and they became more potent. This is an exciting Scotland team, an exciting team to watch.”

“As always, they will be judged on how they perform in the Six Nations. The big challenge for Sione Tuipulotu and Finn Russell is how can they take this feeling, and carry it through to that tournament in February and March next year.”

Plenty of candidates for the award all over the pitch with the outstanding Russell, Van der Merwe and Zander Fagerson producing fine performances, but Kinghorn proved a real handful for the Wallabies in building the link-up play to allow Graham and Huw Jones to flourish. A nice assist to round off a memorable day for his creative talents.

“We wanted to end the year on a high,” he said on TNT Sports. “Having produced a good performance against South Africa, we knew we could have done better. To end the year on a high in front of our home fans is amazing.

“It was a physical game. We made it a little bit clunky in parts, but we brought out attacking game in that second half and scored some really nice tries.”

Scotland: Pierre Schoeman 7, Ewan Ashman 7, Zander Fagerson 8; Grant Gilchrist 8, Scott Cummings 7; Jamie Ritchie 7, Rory Darge 7, Matt Fagerson 7, Ben White 8, Finn Russell 8; Duhan van der Merwe 8, Sione Tuipulotu 8, Huw Jones 7, Darcy Graham 7; 15 Blair Kinghorn 8

Australia: Angus Bell 7, Brandon Paenga-Amosa 6, Allan Alaalatoa 6; 4 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto 6, Will Skelton 7; Rob Valetini 7, Carlo Tizzano 7, Harry Wilson 7; Jake Gordon 7, Noah Lolesio 7; Harry Potter 7, Len Ikitau 7, Joseph-Aukuso Sua’ali’i 6, Andrew Kellaway 6; Tom Wright 6

22′ TRY! SCOTLAND 7-3 AUSTRALIA And suddenly Murrayfield is bouncing as captain Sione Tuipulotu races through the visiting defence from a line-out for Scotland to grab the lead with a lovely score before Russell adds the conversion.

31′ A BLOW FOR AUSTRALIA! Bad news for the visitors as Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii is forced to depart for a check after he collided with Sione Tuipulotu. Looked like a blow to the head. Russell really coming to the fore as Scotland press back the Wallabies.

51′ TRY! SCOTLAND 17-6 AUSTRALIA Superb piece of rampant play by Scotland after so many phases to shove back the visitors. Great break and superb quick ball by the home side. Russell to Kinghorn and the 15-metre pass to Duhan van der Merwe to go over. Russell adds the two.

67 TRY! SCOTLAND 22-6 AUSTRALIA Josh Bayliss marks his introduction with a marvellous try for Scotland. That is brilliant as he dragged several Australian players over with him. Graham with the pass, and Bayliss went on the outside to go over. Fifth try in 10 matches. No conversion.

71′ TRY! SCOTLAND 27-6 AUSTRALIA Surely game, set and match for Scotland now as Russell goes over with some ease. Controlling possession and territory. And getting their rewards. Bang goes the Aussie Grand Slam bid. Jones to Kinghorn to Russell. So simple.