Scotland v Australia
1:20am AEDT Sunday 26 November 2017
Murrayfield Stadium
The Wallabies’ season comes to a close on Sunday morning, with their final international of the year finishing up what can only be described as a mixed season, though one with some definite potential unearthed. Waiting for them at the famous Murrayfield ground are Scotland, a team who have turned themselves into a bogey side for the Australians in recent years. There will be no underestimating the might of the Scots, particularly after they came within a whisker of knocking off the All Blacks last weekend. This should be a cracking way to finish the year.
A lot has been said about the bizarre loss to England last week, but lost in all of the grumbling about refereeing decisions is the fact the Australia simply weren’t good enough, again. The precision of previous weeks was gone, and any semblance of improvement in terms of discipline was sadly missing, with two yellow cards being conceded. The skipper needs to take some responsibility here, as the most penalised man in world rugby, and if the coach has spent the week telling the players they were robbed we will have learnt nothing. This is the Wallabies’ problem to fix, no one else’s, and fix it they must.
There has been some talk this week that the result of this game is almost immaterial to the Wallabies’ season. That win or lose, we know where this team is at. What a load of rubbish. This game is absolutely vital, and even more so after last week’s loss. The result will dramatically shift our perception of 2017 and the current state of the Wallabies. Win, and the season will be remembered as one of significant improvement, with only a late blip against the English derailing our unbeaten run since Dunedin. Lose, and 2017 will go down like so many other years, where we essentially played one great game against the All Blacks, and were disappointing in so many more, with no improvement in results from June to November. That may sound extreme, but despite the fact we know this team is improving, finishing with two losses, and not avenging the June defeat to the Scots, will mark this season down as a lost opportunity.
Some interesting selection from Michael Cheika this week, which will add some intrigue to the clash. Stephen Moore gets to run out one last time, after announcing this week that his international retirement now extends to all forms of the game. He deserves to go out a winner, with a try from the back of a driving line out. The rest of the XV is relatively predictable given the injuries they are carrying, but there is some excitement on the bench, with Lukhan Tui returning from injury, and Taniela Tupou preparing to make his debut. This pair should have Wallabies fans, and Reds fans for that matter, salivating at the prospect of seeing them run amok for many years. The Scots also have some players returning from injury, with one of the Wallabies’ June tormentors, Fraser Brown, returning via the bench. He will be hoping he can find some open space like he did in Sydney, although hopefully for him it won’t be from 60m out this time. He will be an important part of a huge battle up front.
Given the recent history between these two teams, this is bound to be a fantastic Test match, and a great way to finish the year. After last week’s results, it’s hard to fathom that Scotland could be outsiders, so take the head to head at $2.52. Sorry Aussies, the Flower of Scotland will ring out this weekend. Enjoy your rugby.
Head to Head
Scotland $2.55
Australia $1.52
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