‘Happy to hang on’: Wallabies seal thrilling one-point win over Scotland

Edinburgh: As Scotland five-eighth Blair Kinghorn’s potential match-winning penalty in the 80th minute soared towards the sticks at Murrayfield, Wallabies coach Dave Rennie thought his side had blown it.

“There was a hell of a lot of noise in the crowd and I thought it was over,” Rennie said. “There was either a lot of Aussies or a lot of drunk Scotsmen in the stands.”

Australia’s Andrew Kellaway is tackled by Scotland’s Darcy Graham in Edinburgh.Credit: PA

Instead, the rookie No.10’s kick sailed to the left, handing the Wallabies a heart-stopping 16-15 win in their first match of a five-Test spring tour.

Lucky? Sure. Gutsy? Yes.

But as the saying goes, you make your own luck.

Ten minutes earlier, Bernard Foley broke Scottish hearts just like he did seven years ago in a World Cup quarter-final to score the last points of a narrow win.

The Wallabies looked like they were going to be dealt the cruellest of blows before Kinghorn missed a relatively straightforward three-pointer with 18 seconds remaining.

Wins don’t get tighter and the relief was noticeable in Rennie’s post-match press conference. After last year’s two-point loss here, this was sweet.

“We’re happy to hang on,” Rennie said.

Len Ikitau of Australia is challenged by Grant Gilchrist and Blair Kinghorn of Scotland.Credit: Getty Images

“It’s important for the tour, it’s important for the group. We’ve got plenty of character in here. It was just good to see that out there on the park tonight.

“We’re happy we stayed in the fight and found a way to win.”

Captain James Slipper added: “We’ve had a season where we’ve lost a fair few games in the last 10 minutes and it was nice to come out on the right side of the scoreboard tonight. So that was the most pleasing thing.”

Australia got themselves back in the contest when Slipper bagged a crucial five-pointer. It took him 94 Tests to score one try and now Slipper has three from 124 matches.

In a tense final period, Australia conceded a scrum penalty in Scotland’s end before Hunter Paisami’s yellow card for a deliberate knockdown was overturned.

It looked like a bad dream was just beginning for the Wallabies when Tupou, who moments earlier had orchestrated an important turnover, conceded a penalty in Australia’s own half.

The Wallabies celebrate their win after the final whistle.Credit: Getty Images

“I wasn’t excited by that,” Rennie said. “He was probably more relieved than anyone.”

Kinghorn missed and Nic White cleverly drop-kicked the re-start into touch to snap a three-game losing streak to Scotland and breathe a huge sigh of relief heading into next week’s Test against France.

“He [Kinghorn] will feel it more than anybody,” said Scotland coach Gregor Townsend. “In the dressing room afterwards he was down.”

This Scotland match was an important one in the context of Australia’s five-match tour. With France and Ireland to come – the top two ranked sides in the world – a loss against Scotland would make it difficult to finish the tour with a win rate above 50 per cent.

Earlier, the sight of 14-Test Wallaby Jack Dempsey in a blue jersey singing the Scottish national anthem elicited a big roar from the Murrayfield crowd. He enjoyed the battle but his old Tahs teammates had the last laugh.

It took next to no time for Tate McDermott to showcase his flair as Australia’s new starting halfback sliced through untouched from the base of a ruck for a superb 40-metre run before being bowled over attempting to chip and regather.

Although Australia enjoyed early territory and possession, Scotland scored first through fullback Ollie Smith.

The home side may regret turning down shots at goal on two separate occasions.

Camped on their own line, the Wallabies held off multiple Scottish attacking raids to come away unscathed as former Melbourne Rebels player Sione Tuipulotu bombed a chance in open space down the right edge.

After an arm-wrestle of a first half, highlighted by second-rower Nick Frost’s phenomenal work rate, Australia found themselves ahead 6-5 thanks to a late penalty from Foley.

However, Foley produced a coach-killer after the break to gift Scotland a five-pointer. Off first phase and with the scrum feed, Australia shifted the ball left in Scotland’s half before Foley dropped it cold.

The Wallabies failed to secure possession as Scotland kicked up field with Kinghorn sprinting through. He won the race to dot the ball down to make it 12-6. A penalty put Australia behind by nine points.

Debutant Jock Campbell entered the field in the 67th minute and had limited involvements, so too another first-gamer in Langi Gleeson, but it will be a game the pair will never forget as Australia survived by the narrowest of margins.

“There’s been a hell of a lot of hard work from a lot of people,” Rennie said.

Watch all the action from the Wallabies Spring Tour with every match streaming ad-free, live and on demand on Stan Sport.

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