Blair Kinghorn’s last-minute penalty miss proved decisive as Australia held on to beat Scotland for the first time in six years in the 2022 Autumn Nations Series opener.
Kinghorn had a chance to win the match with an awkward penalty from outside the 22 but he tugged it left in front of a stunned BT Murrayfield.
It was an unfortunate ending to a fine performance from the No.10, who had earlier scored one try and set up another to steer Scotland to a 15-6 lead mid-way through the second half.
But a yellow card for Glen Young opened the door for Australia and James Slipper’s converted try and Bernard Foley’s penalty flipped the game on its head.
Australia led 6-5 at half-time, with the only try coming from Scotland full-back Ollie Smith, while the result snaps the Wallabies’ three-match losing streak against Gregor Townsend’s men.
SENSATIONAL SMITH LIGHTS UP BT MURRAYFIELD
In front of a raucous BT Murrayfield, Australia were full of confidence in the opening stages, led by the livewire scrum-half Tate McDermott.
The No.9 had Scotland’s defence on edge throughout the match and he demonstrated just why he is one of the Wallabies’ new stars to watch in just the fifth minute.
On the halfway line, McDermott spotted through a gap from the base of a ruck and sprinted through it before chipping ahead deep into Scotland’s 22. He could not quite get on the end of the bouncing ball, as Scotland’s scrambling defence just about survived.
The momentum from an early defensive stand inspired Scotland to score the first try of the match with a delightful move that brought BT Murrayfield to its feet.
Some sumptuous hands from the Scotland backs saw Tuipolotu and Kinghorn tee up full-back Smith, and he jinked past two defenders to finish in the corner.
That was somewhat against the run of play, with Australia largely commanding territory and possession in the opening 20, and the visitors were on the board shortly after through a Foley penalty.
While Foley elected to kick his relatively simple shot at goal, Scotland turned one down in the 26th minute as Kinghorn decided to kick to the corner.
It was a bold call that proved to be a mistake, as a few phases later Tuipulotu dropped a simple pass in the corner for what would have been a walk-in try after a well-constructed move.
The hosts were steadily growing into the game but suffered more frustration on the half-hour mark, as the Wallabies defence just about held Young from scoring as the lock tried to touch down from a metre out.
Australia re-grouped and took a slender one-point half-time lead, as Foley booted through his second penalty of the match in the 39th minute.
WALLABIES HIT BACK
The hosts were not behind for long, however, and Kinghorn went from try provider to try scorer early in the second half.
Mark Bennett’s fierce tackle on Foley knocked the ball loose at the half-way line and Kinghorn was the first to react. The fly-half kicked the ball forward, sprinted past every Australia player and gathered the ball to dot down.
The 25-year-old kicked the conversion and then added a penalty 10 minutes later to stretch Scotland’s lead to nine points.
It could have been at least 14 in the 55th minute, as Duhan van der Merwe beat Andrew Kellaway to an Ali Price box-kick and set off for the try line. Foley stopped him in his tracks five metres short but then the arriving Young was penalised for a dangerous clearout at the breakdown, resulting in a yellow card and 10 minutes in the sin-bin.
That threatened to swing the momentum Australia’s way and the Wallabies pounced five minutes later by taking advantage of an overlap to the right.
Cadeyrn Neville popped a pass outside to Slipper and the prop scrambled his way over the line to help cut the gap to just two points.
Foley added his third penalty of the game in the 71st minute after Hamish Watson was penalised for a deliberately knock-on to regain the lead for Australia and they held on to win, after Kinghorn’s missed kick.
