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'Anyone can beat anyone': Rennie upbeat ahead of France challenge after downing Scotland
By Finn Morton
Wallabies coach Dave Rennie said he was relieved after Australia’s nail-biting 16-15 win over Scotland, but insisted that they need to be better.
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Scotland were ahead on the scoreboard and playing with momentum mid-way through the second half, after flyhalf Blair Kinghorn scored 10-points in 11 minutes.
But disaster struck for the hosts in the 56th minute when replacement Glen Young was controversially shown a yellow card for a clean-out on Tate McDermott.
The men in gold marched down the other end of the field and within that 10-minute period, had reduced the deficit to just two-points.
A Bernard Foley penalty in the 71st minute gave Australia the lead for the first time in almost half an hour, before Kinghorn had a chance to win it at the death.
Murrayfield appeared to be abnormally loud as the Edinburgh pivot lined up a shot at goal, which he sent wide left.
Almost 12-months on from their two-point loss at Murrayfield, the Wallabies had gotten their five-game spring tour off to a winning start.
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“A bit of relief, especially with Blair Kinghorn lining up and a hell of a lot of noise in the crowd,” Rennie said after the match.
“We’re happy to hang on. Proud of the effort because at 15-6 we’d given up a soft one straight after half-time, but we fought our way back in and got our nose in front.
“We can be a lot better. We had a lot of possession down in their 22 and we didn’t convert,” he added.
“We’re going to have to be better against France obviously, but it’s been a hell of a lot of hard work from a lot of people and it’s nice to get a result for the group.”
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The Wallabies recently lost a Trans-Tasman battle with the All Blacks in Melbourne at the death, and did what they could to address some areas that could make a difference.
Rennie said the team has “broken our whole game down” as they look to develop some consistency during their Northern Hemisphere tour.
“We’ve looked at areas where we think we can make shifts and that will make a genuine difference to a result,” he said.
“The key for us is to back up tonight with a better performance. We know we’ve got a lot more in us.
“World Rugby at the moment, there’s not a hell of a lot in them amongst the top eight sides, and anyone can beat anyone on any given day.
“We’re happy we stayed in the fight and found a way to win.”
Australian captain James Slipper, who scored just his third try in 124 Tests, echoed his coaches’ comments about winning a tense Test such as this one.
“We’ve had a season where we’ve lost a fair few games in the last 10 minutes,” Slipper said.
“It was nice to actually come out on the right side of the scoreboard tonight so that’s probably the most pleasing things.
“The character shown by the boys just to hang in there and keep creating opportunities and we took enough.”
While the victory did snap the Wallabies’ three match losing streak, their next Test might just be their toughest yet.
Next Sunday (AEST) the men in gold will take the field at Stade de France, and take on next year’s Rugby World Cup hosts.
Scrumhalf Antoine Dupont is set to lead Les Bleus throughout their November internationals campaign.
“It’s hard to get a gauge on their Japanese tour so really we’ve focused on their Six Nations where they were very impressive,” Rennie said.
“We know they’re going to kick a lot, they play zero rugby down their end of the field, but it does create opportunities.
“We’re going to have to look after the ball well. We want to play against them, they prefer to play without the ball they’re very similar to South Africa.”
Australia are also set to play Italy, Ireland and Wales before their 2022 season ends.
