Australia-Scotland: Here's to You, Scotland

Well, well, well. Hopefully by now the hangovers have worn off, and the “did that really happen?” feeling has not.

And so to a little bit of post-match analysis.

Scotland’s defence was magnificent—on that we can hopefully all agree, but it could quite easily have been different.

Australia have put at least 30 points on us in the last few encounters, and if you think of the tries they butchered, the missed kicks—including that one—it could quite easily have been business as usual, and I would be sitting here writing about moral victories, plucky defence, courageous losers, etc.

Scotland had almost no ball, and a lot of what we did get was kicked away or turned over. Ordinarily, all these factors would have combined into the usual autumn loss.

So what changed?

There are a few things that I noticed from between my fingers as I watched the match:

A Full 80-Minute Performance

Usually a Scottish team hangs in there for 60-odd minutes, then there is one minor lapse in concentration, (quite often somewhere in midfield) a quick turnover, and the (insert Tri-Nations team here) have scored a couple of tries and put the game to bed.

You almost sensed such a thing happening on Saturday, when the Wallabies kept piling attack after attack on to Scotland in the early second half, hoping that our boys would wilt. Only they didn’t.

Right across the 22-man squad they tackled for the full 80 minutes, and it was only in the 81st that the unceasing battering Rocky Elsom’s men had given us, finally found a chink in the armour.

Immense performances from all the forwards without exception. You suspect if someone had told a lot of these players, “This is what it will feel like at the end if you don’t go to sleep in the second half,” this could have happened years ago.

A Coach Unafraid to Make a Hard Call

Morrison had been okay in defence in the first half, but too much of the minuscule amount of ball we had was carried into contact or spilled, rather than finding its way out wide, which was frankly unacceptable.

At halftime Robbo yanked Morrison and stuck De Luca in, who repaid him with his best game in a Scotland shirt.

The three centre berths for next weekend should be De Luca, Grove, and Cairns in whatever order you like.

Morrison was given a vote of confidence well ahead of the first-team announcement and has not exactly lived up to it. Contrast this with the other guys, including Grove, who instantly looked at home at this level.

Let’s get them going forward next weekend and see what these boys can do with some ball.

Luck

Years and years of stupid calls going against us, balls bouncing into the arms of opposing players, and kicks missing by inches were cashed in at the weekend. Everything we needed to go our way did.

Everything we needed to go against Australia did.

They say good teams make their own luck, and I’m sure a lot of the pressure put on the Wallabies with our defence must have rattled them.

Basically, what we have all been saying for years: If Scotland stayed focused, ditched the under-performers, and got a bit of luck here and there they could compete with the top teams. All we needed was a coach that agreed with us.

If Scotland can stay this passionate and intense, use that as a base for performance level, and somehow hold onto some ball to play with, then we have the makings of a good (and lucky) team.

Oh, and if you fancy a laugh, read this from the Sydney Morning Herald (don’t let your blood boil, it’s not worth it). Also, if you are interested, here are some highlights of the Scotland A game, shot by the folks at Borders Rugby TV .