Scotland face Australia in the final match of the weekend in rugby's Nations Championship, with both teams looking to recover from heavy defeats in their previous outings.
Gregor Townsend's hosts are seeking a quick response after their 121-year winless run against New Zealand was extended with a disappointing 43-21 loss at Murrayfield. Hooker Ewan Ashman scored a hat-trick, but it was not enough as the All Blacks ran in seven tries to preserve their long unbeaten record against Scotland and draw level with South Africa at the top of the Southern Hemisphere standings.
Scotland sit fourth in the Northern Hemisphere table, above only Wales and Italy, after also being brushed aside by the Springboks in the summer either side of entertaining victories against Argentina and Fiji.
Wallabies' Struggles
Australia come into the match after an atrocious performance at Twickenham, where they conceded a record number of points to old rivals England in a one-sided 45-22 defeat. That followed two Bledisloe Cup defeats by New Zealand, halting their momentum after series wins against Argentina and Japan under new coach Les Kiss, plus a memorable victory over a second-string Springbok team on home soil.
Their Nations Championship campaign started with a last-gasp loss to Ireland, and they also fell victim to a storming second-half comeback by France before thrashing Italy in their only victory so far.
Team News and Lineups
Townsend has made two changes to the Scotland team that started against the All Blacks, with Blair Kinghorn replacing Kyle Rowe at full-back and Darcy Graham coming in for Jamie Dobie on the left wing. Kyle Steyn completes the back three, with captain Sione Tuipulotu in the centres with Huw Jones. Finn Russell and Ben White remain the starting half-back partnership.
The forward pack is unchanged, with hooker Ashman joined in the front row by props Rory Sutherland and Zander Fagerson. Gregor Brown and Scott Cummings continue at lock, in front of a back row of Matt Fagerson, Rory Darge and Jack Dempsey.
Newcastle back row Ollie Leatherbarrow is in line to earn his first Scotland cap as a replacement, replacing George Horne as Townsend pivots from a 5-3 bench split to 6-2. Tom Jordan is the other back cover, alongside forward finishers Gregor Hiddleston, Pierre Schoeman, Will Hurd, Max Williamson, Josh Bayliss and Leatherbarrow.
Australia make three personnel changes, bringing Rob Valetini back into the pack at blindside flanker as Jeremy Williams reverts to lock and Lukhan Salakaia-Loto drops out. Carter Gordon, omitted from the matchday squad entirely against England, starts at fly-half instead of Declan Meredith, with Ben Donaldson remaining the back-up option. Harry Potter returns on the left wing, pushing Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii back into the centres alongside Len Ikitau, with Isaac Henry making way. Brandon Paenga-Amosa, Lachlan Shaw and Tom Hooper all come onto the bench.
Head-to-Head and Prediction
Scotland have won four of their last five meetings with Australia, including a 27-13 home triumph two autumns ago. Australia's 16-15 victory at Murrayfield in 2022, in which Kinghorn missed a last-gasp penalty, was their first over the Scots since 2016. Overall, Scotland have 13 wins to Australia's 22, with no draws.
Scotland never looked likely to end that long winless run against the All Blacks, leaving them needing to beat Australia to stay in the mix towards the right end of the Northern Hemisphere standings. The Wallabies have had an inconsistent start to the Les Kiss era, using this autumn campaign as a yardstick to measure their progress ahead of the World Cup on home soil next year. After their abject showing at Twickenham, an instant response is demanded, though it is hard to see them resisting Scotland's impressive attack for long. The prediction is a Scotland win by 14 points.
Match odds: Scotland to win 4/11, Australia to win 12/5, draw 22/1, via UK betting sites and subject to change.
