Late penalty: Greig Laidlaw
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Scotland retained the Hopetoun Cup on Tuesday after recording a last-minute 9-6 triumph over Australia in terrible weather at Hunter Stadium.
An 80th minute Greig Laidlaw penalty sparked mass celebrations from the touring side, who made it back-to-back wins over the Wallabies.
But it wasn't pretty in Newcastle, a host venue that became the tenth Australian city to host a rugby international. This was shocking weather for it.
Scotland entered the game in the knowledge they had claimed the spoils the last time these two met. And because of the inclement weather it seemed a similar scoreline to either side was likely in their June opener, with Australia readying themselves ahead of this weekend's three-Test opener with Wales while Scotland were set to go on to Fiji on June 16 and Samoa on June 23.
The rain wasn't the only hampering issue in Newcastle as a strong wind - favouring the visitors in the first-half - meant territory was going to be in one country's corner either side of the break. Subsequently the Scots were in the ascendancy for most of the first 25 minutes.
A couple of Laidlaw penalties from his three attempts in the first 40 saw Andy Robinson's side take a 0-6 lead after half-an-hour, with the Wallabies struggling to get out of their half. But when they did enjoy a rare piece of possession and looked to kick out through the sheets of rain, the wind then promptly pulled them backwards. It was tough work.
But they did get on the board from a rare foray into opposition territory when New Zealand-born debutant Mike Harris sent over his first Test points seven minutes before the break.
That was how the score remained going into the break as Scotland took a slim advantage into the sanctuary of a dry changing room. They knew Australia would come hard though in the second-half as it would be now be the hosts enjoying the gale force wind at their backs.
And so it was as the Wallabies returned in much better form and promptly set up camp in the opposition half, picking and going on numerous occasions as Scotland did well to hold them out. They did get some reward for their efforts however when Harris levelled swiftly.
When replacement lock Rob Simmons was ruled not to have grounded the ball after several drives to the line from Australia, it seemed the Scots had weathered the storm. Indeed they had as, with only the dying embers of the game left, they set about having one last assault.
It paid off too as referee Jaco Peyper blew for an offence at the breakdown and Laidlaw stepped up to seal a workmanlike and much-needed win after what was a poor Six Nations.
Man-of-the-match: It was going to be Scotland openside Ross Rennie for 24 tackles made and zero being missed, but that was before the 80th minute. Well done Greig Laidlaw.
The scorers:
For Australia:
Pen: Harris 2
For Scotland:
Pen: Laidlaw 3
Australia: 15 Luke Morahan, 14 Joe Tomane, 13 Anthony Fainga'a, 12 Mike Harris, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 Berrick Barnes, 9 Will Genia, 8 Scott Higginbotham 7 David Pocock (c), 6 Dave Dennis, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 Sitaleki Timani, 3 Dan Palmer, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 James Slipper.
Replacements: 16 Saia Fainga'a, 17 Ben Alexander, 18 Rob Simmons, 19 Michael Hooper, 20 Nick Phipps, 21 Pat McCabe, 22 Adam Ashley Cooper.
Scotland: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Joe Ansbro, 13 Nick De Luca, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Greig Laidlaw, 9 Mike Blair, 8 John Barclay, 7 Ross Rennie, 6 Alasdair Strokosch, 5 Richie Gray, 4 Alastair Kellock, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Ross Ford (c), 1 Ryan Grant.
Replacements: 16 Scott Lawson, 17 Jon Welsh, 18 Tom Ryder, 19 Richie Vernon, 20 Chris Cusiter, 21 Duncan Weir, 22 Tom Brown.
Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Craig Joubert (South Africa), Keith Brown (New Zealand)
By Adam Kyriacou
Comments
crunchfit says...
@new_j4a
Haha
Posted 19:21 12th June 2012
new_j4a says...
@jonesy2 ....can we ever take you seriously again? Did we ever? Here's the big pile of words you need to eat (and by the way, saffas don't need the kind of help you were giving):
jonesy2 said "PR you have to calm down with the south african and australian hating and ignorance, seriously. suggesting that last year samoa exposed australia because a lack of depth is laughably stupid, the wallabies are by far the deepest test nation barring NZ obviously, samoa won because australia were arrogant and didnt take the game seriously. anyone failing to recognise the probability that scotland are going to concede a crazy amount of tries are just being completely dilusional. im not saying that its impossible for scotland to win but predicting an upset is just pathetic because its only done out of spite and so easy to turn around and claim that australia should have won all along if the wallabies get up. all you claim you think scotland can win, go down to the TAB and put half your latest or next pay check on that result then....... whats that? thought so."
Posted 10:50 08th June 2012
Ramage says...
@Trinuts for once I know where you are coming from, but them are the breaks and you have to accept them.John O'Neill is more concerned about the money than the players. Surely he should have realised that this was not the year to squeeze in an extra game even if Scotland wanted it. He may have even jeopardised the Wales tests. However they under estimated the Scots and paid the penalty. It is very embarassing to see the Tri Nations Champions defeated by the 6 Nations Wooden Spooners and no amount of bleating or crying changes the record book Australia 6 Scotland 9 and not only that but back to back wins for the Scots.
As the late Bill McLaren would say, "they will be dancing in the streets of Hawick." Aye and I can see them gathered aroond the Horse on these fine June days not only dancing in the streets for the rugby win but downing a few rum and milks to celebrate the Common Riding. Finally there must be no bleating as the side that was put on the field was Australia and all have caps to prove it. In the end Australia were defeated by Scotland. Yes, there are reasons but they count for nothing.
Not only did the Scots win the game but also the comedy act at the end when in jubilation two players struck heads and Ansbro had to run off to get attention to the cut.
Posted 07:23 08th June 2012
anotherfarce says...
All this bleating about weather conditions.....does this mean that any NH side playing can be excused if they lose for playing on a dry track!!!!
You fella's need to buy some extra boxes of tissues, because a dry track will certainly suit the style of rugby wales play, but if they lose of course weather conditions suited the wallabies omg!!
Posted 08:05 07th June 2012
melkdave says...
@Lovethisgame
Dubious penalty ??? and the scrum before Scotland where wheeled ???.Afraid your wrong on both accounts.on the 1st scrum Scotland where still going straight as Australia tried to walk it round ..Thats why they ended up at 90 degrees to eachother rather than 180 or opposite eachother.Thats a penalty right there ,but the referee gave Australia the benifit of the dought.That 1st ploy having failed and again the Australian pack being pushed back ,they resorted to their tried and tested and ingrained tatic of dropping it ,again a penalty,but this time the referee didnt bottle the decision Australias front 5 is well known as a weakness,Wait till you play Argentina later this year and count the number of times the wallabies drop or walk the scrum as they are renowned scrummagers unlike Scotland who are regarded as good .Dont delude yourself it is a weakness for Australia
Posted 18:35 06th June 2012
TVaddict says...
@swiwi
Thank you! That was really informative. I didn't realise the ranking system was so neatly explained.
So I think Australia will probably lose the full 2 rating points for this match then (and Scotland gain them). If they lose all three matches to Wales (with no score difference being over 15) then I think they'll lose around another 3-4 rating points, bring them down to 81ish. That would put them at around 6th. I think if Wales win the series 2-1 then Australia would lose around 2ish points, bring them down to 83ish, which is on the 4th/5th cusp. So a Wales series win would be very interesting, especially if England can win at least one of their games against South Africa.
@rugby_rockstar
Just so you know, points scored doesn't affect the rankings much. If the final score difference is greater than 15 then the change that would have happened gets times by 1.5. Other than that points scored has no effect. So winning 9-6 is equivalent to winning 68-59 in terms of a rankings change.
Posted 14:50 06th June 2012
Trader2 says...
God help us, why is that every time the Wannabies loose out come the excuses. I see Trinats is blaming the ARU, not really an original thought (does he ever have one of those), Phil Kearns was doing just that after the game so I believe, actually it makes a change for Kearnsey to blame something else other than "he was a mile offside". Most of the Wannabie supporters should be pleased with the ARU as they have managed to set Deans up for a big fall. To be fair to Kearnsey he did say that and has come out to bat for the Dingo but methinks it is too late and once O'Neill finishes up it will be goodbye Deans.
Posted 14:34 06th June 2012
APV1 says...
@ Trinats2 - which supports my point (from the other direction, I suppose) that there was a massive display of naivity from the administrators. Either play the match will the best team available (subject to fitness and form), or don't schedule it. It's not like the S15 schedule has been a secret...
I agree that Tuesday to Saturday isn't long to turn a squad around, but I have little sympathy after the RWC. There were teams with far fewer players and resources, with far less time.
Posted 13:07 06th June 2012
quietbrit says...
The Result is in - Scotland won and picked up the ranking points.
Could a full strength Wallabies have stopped this? Probably, though Scotland in the rain is always hard.
They didn't. All credit to Scotland for the win and I leave it up to the Aussie team and supporters to figure out why they lost a test match - and no one should dismiss any test match as 'unimportant'.
Posted 13:04 06th June 2012
costa says...
don't like the idea of tuesday tests, but as for the days between then and saturday, isn't this the same as what many teams had to manage in the rwc last year?
similar situation you have a squad of 30; if australia had taken this game more seriously maybe some players would not have played super on the weekend. like the regular conflicts we have with clubs not wanting to release players for internationals that conflict with the club season
Posted 12:27 06th June 2012
Trinats2 says...
APV1:
John O'Neill,(ARU) threw this game in, none of the players wanted it, Two days prep. Pocock (one of a few) who played Super15 on Saturday ran out Tuesday V Scotland and will again this Saturday V Wales. So it's difficult to field a full strength (minus theri injuries) team on Tues and turn up again Sat.
Posted 10:54 06th June 2012
APV1 says...
Does anyone else get the feeling the Wallabies underestimated the Scots? Of course no-one was likely to mention it in advance, with all the stock phrases being wheeled out by all parties, but just look at the team sheet.
To hold players back and not field your best team in a year where IRB Ranking points are absolutely crucial, just shows the niavity of the administration and coaches.
This was Australia's opportunity to hammer a team ranked 10 places below them and (almost) ensure a top 4 ranking come December. They are already handicapped by playing at home, so a massive score difference would have negated that. By losing this, they are at risk of being 2nd tier, come the seedings and that could cost them.
Outstanding win for Scotland and some brave tackling.
Maybe this was the start of a NH resurgence and the SH teams losing at home...
Posted 10:26 06th June 2012
Trinats2 says...
Some very sad peeps on here and I'm not talking about us Aussie supporters. Well and truly beat, even if it was dry and sunny we could have lost. There was no respect shown for Scotland, 6-6 in a very tight game and awarded a penalty in fornt of the posts but choose to kick for the line out. Did they not learn from samoa ?
Well done scotland a great win on Aus soil.
As for Deans ?? A tough one, still ranked 2 in the World, Tri nations champions, 3rd in RWC, yet his record against NH teams is very poor (and his home country !!). Can it be he can't read the forward dominated NH rugby ? He comes from Super 12/14 SH rugby and no NH experience. Might be time to get rid of the Kiwi and bring in the missing 'LINK" after all he is out of the Reds next season !!. Heaps of time to get this very young team to 2015 RWC victory
I have something positive right now !!!
Sent from my CryPhone
Posted 10:21 06th June 2012
rugby_rockstar says...
Wow, to be honest scotland should have won by more. IRB, is Oz really the 2nd best rugby country in the world? or are the rankings rubbish because they don't take forward play and rugby union basics into account. this ain't rugby league and thats why your seedings can't be based on points scored. Oz don't have a platform to play off and whenever they take on a decent pack of forwards they get shown up.
Posted 09:22 06th June 2012
IAMpunter2609 says...
For a wallabies team accustomed to embarrassment, this was truly a moment of humiliation.
Posted 08:07 06th June 2012
Lovethisgame says...
I think I will resign myself to the fact that the Wallabies will forever be like the French - always capable of stunning victories but always susceptibility to upset defeats.
Posted 08:06 06th June 2012
chuckpaki says...
Well done too the scots no matter what the weather conditions were you pulled the win off that last scrum was smart rugby you ambushed them !!brilliant!! pressure was applied at the right time
Posted 07:14 06th June 2012
hayj05 says...
Oh & I forgot about Samoa over Australia.
Posted 06:24 06th June 2012
hayj05 says...
There have been some really good upsets in the last couple of years.
Scotland over Australia twice & South Africa.
I mean Scotland have won just 3 of their last 20 six nations matches yet have won 3 of their last 4 against trinations opponents & that's the best recent record of any of the NH sides.
Albiet all of those wins were played in conditions that Australians & South Africans aren't accustomed to.... still well deserved wins though.
And then there was Italy & Tonga over France.
Posted 06:08 06th June 2012
OldSchool says...
No excuses from this Aussie, well done Scotland, and love your anthem!!. Tha-mai, what is your problem? Did an Aussie run off with your missus?? ...poor angry little pet.
Posted 05:58 06th June 2012