The Wallabies’ triumph at Murrayfield draws a line in the sand. They will not allow close games to slip through their fingers.
This game was as much about starting the northern tour strong as it was about reinstalling pride after a disappointing Rugby Championship. It will taste a little sweeter knowing it was just a two-point loss a year ago on the same pitch.
The win was as unrefined as they come and without strike weapon Marika Koroibete the backline failed to fire. Thankfully, the forward pack went to work and got the job done in tight.
Tate McDermott weaved, ducked and dodged his way through Scottish defence early in the first half,
but coach Dave Rennie would swap both piercing darts for quicker, cleaner ball from his halfback.
McDermott’s distribution game was not up to scratch. He arrived late and waited for the ball to be presented neatly as opposed to Finlay Christie in the All Blacks game who pushed, shoved and pulled his own players to get his hands on the ball. It may seem small, but ruck speed is the difference between front-foot ball and a stagnant attack.
(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
The Wallabies’ pack, players one through to eight stood up and showed grit. Line speed was great in defence and Jed Holloway had his most impressive showing of the year. It wasn’t flashy but it was a proper blindside flanker performance, he tackled hard, ran dominantly and slowed Scottish ball, holding players up in almost every tackle.
Cadeyrn Neville and Nick Frost galvanised after detractors (including myself) had their doubts about the pair’s physicality in the Australia A series in Japan. They were both tireless, hungry, and relentless at lineout time.
In the backline, no one stood up more than Len Ikitau, who continues to go from strength to strength. His defence was perfect (9/9) and his left-foot step beat the first tackler every time. If his centre partner Hunter Paisami is a hammer, Ikitau is a needle, threading his way through defences and stitching together the Wallabies D-line. z
Nic White came on in the second half and restored some ruck speed, giving the Wallabies front-foot ball and attacking opportunities, but poor ball handling let the visitors down.
Grit and determination was what won the Wallabies this game, coming back from a 15–6 deficit to win 16–15. Despite a high penalty count (15), the potency of the penalties was low.
Because the Wallabies won collisions in defence, they were rarely offside in their own half. This allowed for
pressure-relieving penalties down the Scottish end which were not in range of penalty kicks. This small shift shows progress in a big way, and it speaks to mindset growth and execution.
But poor ball security at the ruck and ball-handling in play staunched any momentum the Wallabies had; they
were their own worst enemy.
The Wallabies, especially Taniela Tupou, can count themselves lucky after Blair Kinghorn missed a penalty goal attempt in the 79th minute. But he was easily the better five-eighth of the night behind a back-peddling pack.
Bernard Foley will want to improve on an underwhelming and shaky performance. He often played too deep, a very different picture to his valiant efforts in Melbourne in September.
Tupou came on a scrummaged well but got penalised twice and missed three tackles. However, overall this was a better performance from the replacement prop.
A side note: Luke Pearce had an amazing game as referee. He was clear in his communication, fearless and methodical in his decision-making and quick to resolve matters which other referees have laboured over. His decision to award Glen Young a yellow for his high clear-out on McDermott and only a penalty for Paisami for a failed intercept showed he is a rugby lover as well as a match official.
He showed he understands the game is about more than arbitrary law implementation and demonstrated a clear “feel” for the game.
In the grand scheme of things, the Wallabies are a step ahead from where they were a year ago, but they have a longer injury list and fresher faces. It shows the leadership group made the right choices, keeping the scoreboard ticking over with penalties and not chance their arm against a staunch Scottish defence.
The series against England and the NT last year were full of close games. Learning to close them out is an asset for this young Wallabies side heading into a world cup.
Discipline will need to be perfect in Paris next weekend and the physicality and skill execution will need to go to another level but one thing this group isn’t short on is belief. A win in France may be a stretch too far but a arm-wrestle going down to the wire is a pass mark for the Wallabies who are currently ranked ninth in the world.
Ken Catchpole's Other Leg
Roar Guru
“ How can any person of intelligence think that by consistently disputing the Ref there is going to be an advantageous outcome to the team?” There is IQ. And there is EQ. Wallabies need to zip it. And develop a Ref Whisperer. McCaw had it. Even when he was offside, or tripping an opponent in a World Cup, his halo never slipped.
Stu
Roar Rookie
This Japanese rugby team has exactly the same astounding transformational ability that their Japanese football team did/does.. they have both come from zero to hero overnight. It has to be due to their ability to hone in on absolute improvement measures, and execute a plan. Their admins must have overhauled what makes a world-class side, then devised a world-class blueprint that is methodically trained and coached, by an assembled world-class coaching team over a maybe 10-year period. Steely-eyed focus to excellence and results in every corner and facet, but methodically pulled off - just an incredible mindset. But more than anything, having lived there I know it’s mostly due to the tenets of being Japanese. The individual owns personal excellence, and is traditionally shamed if they fall remotely short of respecting that expectation - this mindset is enshrined in Japanese culture. There’s no chance we will ever have it, and it doesn’t exist in such measure anywhere else in the world either. They deserve every hard-fought win they get. It’s verifiable proof that pure excellence and devotion in all areas equals dramatic improvement, and also verifies that our ‘training efforts and improvements’ don’t amount to a hill o’ beans.
Stu
Roar Rookie
Hooper? Did he play?
Bobby
Roar Rookie
They have been "frogs" for obvious reasons. No different to NZ being called after birds and Australians being called Wallabies. :happy:
Malotru
Roar Rookie
Maybe Ferret, but time was blown from memory. Besides which I suggest you start taking note of how long the average kick for goal takes these days. Few, other than gimmes are under 60 seconds. Watching live I thought it odds on that Kinghorn would miss, possibly because he over thought it!!
Malotru
Roar Rookie
Which one out of Lolesio and Donaldson goes to full back then Tooly, or are you thinking of Lolesio at 12?
Malotru
Roar Rookie
Valetini? Couldn't knock the skin off a rice pudding Peter. Looks good with ball in hand, but doesn't make many post contact metres.
Malotru
Roar Rookie
Frogs is a tad disrespectful Bobby. Even the Wobblies could beat 23 frogs (maybe not cane toads though).
Malotru
Roar Rookie
Your myopia becomes clear when you reiterate the hoary old chestnut that the ref decided Bledisloe one John. Foley ignored his requests to play the ball, the ABs were awake to the possibilities and executed perfectly. Sayonara Wallabies.
Malotru
Roar Rookie
Geez you are easily pleased John. In my view the Scots snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.
Derek Murray
Roar Rookie
You make good points. I thought he was pretty consistent with most calls although you may be right on the TT one. I liked his call for Hunter's knockon/up/down. I would have expected RC for the hit on Tate but accept YC
The Ferret
Roar Rookie
Speaking of Raynal and his time wasting call... How long did that Scottish ten take to kick that last penalty? Bring on a shot clock!
The Ferret
Roar Rookie
I think he made one big one and that was the call on TT for that final penalty. Was that a penalty? yes it was. Did he let 10 of the exact same go for the previous 78 minutes? Yes he did. I would have also been a little bit on the cranky side if hunter got a yellow after he ruled a direct contact to the head with force as only a yellow - Personally I think he should have given hunter a yellow based on previous rulings in the past 5 years so that was also a blown call that the Scotts would be furious about. Refs make mistakes and that is fine... Young should have gone with a red and Hunter should have gone with a yellow so they evened themselves out in my book.
Brendan NH Fan
Roar Rookie
The ability to win a tight game can't be overstated. To often it seems Oz need to go behind and then sprint past their opposition on the board rather than grind out the win. Losing at the death would have re-enforced the panic some teams have to win a tight game. But it is important to remember that the Scots will have 10 more squad players v Fiji and NZ and much of the bench v Oz will leave the squad or hold tackle bags for the rest of the window. It's why also beating Wales is a must as they also will be missing large numbers.
Guess
Roar Rookie
McDermott’s pass Foley wasn’t great again. It was a bit too high for Foley to gather and pass in what would It's a domino effect that often starts with poor pass. Defending team has more time to react and interrupt attack. It's hard to straighten it out after initial mistake.
Guess
Roar Rookie
I mean it's the same dude who is ok with holloway. Don't waste your time. He's just a hater
Biscuit man
Roar Rookie
Wallabies going backwards. I think this is worst team I’ve watched in 35 years. The selections are terrible at times. No combinations and passionless at times. Looks like scrambled rugby most of the time without any plan of defence patterns or clinical attacking .Coaching staff need to walk. It’s their doing.
Mactruck
Roar Rookie
Wonder if Jamie Joseph is interested?
Guess
Roar Rookie
Maybe they have a chip on their shoulder against the refs after raynal :stoked:
Guess
Roar Rookie
Yeah same old unforced mistakes. What's worrying is fisher said there's progress.. to me they played worse than in second bledisloe despite the score. The only improvement were locks but other parts of wallabies have fallen apart lol. They can't quite get it working all together. I hope it's just a jet lag and too many changes in selections but then rennie doesn't have much choice