Scotland Take Scintillating Victory Over In-Form Wallabies

The Wallabies had found themselves on a five win streak including two victories over the current World Champions: South Africa. They put away Argentina twice and saw off the exciting Japanese squad, but then they faced the Scots. Scotland had been bolstered by the return of stalwarts Stuart Hogg and Finn Russell with a great deal of youth also permeating the squad in the form of players like Ewan Ashman and the ever exciting Darcy Graham. So, it seemed, Scotland had put together a strong team ready to take on the Australians.

For the full 80 minutes, it seemed at any moment it could begin to tip one way or the other in one of the closest games of exciting rugby you could hope to watch, a true arm wrestle. However, one team just could not claim dominance enough to put points between them. 15-13 is, by rugby’s standards, a pretty low scoring game but at the time it definitely didn’t feel that way. Both teams kept the creativity and excitement right until the very last moment. A real flash of brilliance came from the debutant Ewan Ashman who somehow managed to get tackled right in the corner but keep his feet and legs off the ground long enough to touch down the ball first. As the commentator said at the time, he’s likely to never have to do anything like that again in his whole career. What a special day it must have been for him and his family.

Finn Russell as always was something of a star of the show. I mean, you could kind of just assume that even if you didn’t watch the match but he’s always worth mentioning. When he isn’t popping off sly little kicks into space, he’s drawing in three defenders and still getting the pass away. He is, in my opinion, a number 10 you would make in a rugby video game and turn up the stats all the way. I read an article before the match that put it perfectly; Finn Russell plays like he’s still new to the game, but with the skill of a veteran. It couldn’t be put better, he’s not jaded or scared to make mistakes and it makes him so exciting to watch.

Another player who was unsurprisingly great fun to watch was Michael Hooper; a brilliant captain and flanker. His interactions with Romain Poite were entertaining to watch and his passion and personality comes through here. He may have argued a few clear calls but show me a captain that doesn’t. He clearly won over Poite at several different times in the game and that’s what a good captain needs to be able to do. You can argue every decision but if you don’t have a strong and amicable personality to go with it then you’ll find yourself being told to stand back repeatedly.

An all-round fantastic match that I would suggest everyone watch. It’s fun to see a team run rings around their opponent; it’s even more fun to watch two well matched teams battle it out to the dying minutes.