There were few surprises as Gregor Townsend named his Scotland team to face Australia in the final Autumn Nations Series test at Murrayfield.
The result on Sunday will prove decisive when evaluating the success of the four-game series with Scotland securing expected wins over Fiji and Portugal but losing to world champions South Africa. Australia will arrive in Edinburgh full of confidence after a dramatic win over England was followed by an emphatic triumph over Wales last weekend in Cardiff.
Scotland are ranked two places above their opponents in the world rankings and they will be slight favourites at Murrayfield with Townsend naming a strong team.
The biggest selection call centred around who would replace the injured Jack Dempsey with Jamie Ritchie getting the nod and Matt Fagerson moving to number eight
READ MORE: Wallabies boss Joe Schmidt says Scotland side as strong as ever
Scotland’s strongest back three will take the field together for the first time since the World Cup with Blair Kinghorn returning to his preferred role at full-back with Scotland’s top two record try-scorers Darcy Graham and Duhan van der Merwe on the wings.
Sione Tuipulotu will captain Scotland against the nation of his birth and we’ve analysed the five big talking points from Townsend’s press conference ahead of facing Australia.
Australia challenge
There’s very little between both sides and Sunday’s fixture is arguably one of the most exciting games of the whole Autumn Nations Series. Australia have improved immeasurably since Joe Schmidt replaced Eddie Jones earlier this year after the disastrous world cup. The Wallabies’ backline is stacked with immensely dangerous threats and Townsend is under no illusions over the challenge ahead.
“You could see how they were progressing even before those two wins,” Townsend admitted. “They had a very good win against Argentina away from home. They had a lot of play against the All Blacks in particular and the coaching of Joe Schmidt was coming through.
"A possession-based game, evolving that to bring the centres into the game as much as possible. They have that confidence of winning on the road, winning in the last minute against England. There's no better feeling for a group than to win at the last minute. and then they took that confidence into their display against Wales and they also had a red card during that game and actually were stronger.
Jamie Ritchie return
Ritchie has been handed his first start since the summer tour against Chile with the former Scotland captain rested last weekend against Portugal with this game in mind. Townsend could have started Josh Bayliss at number 8 and left Matt Fagerson at flanker but he’s handed Ritchie the chance to impress. And Townsend believes the 28-year-old has shown signs of being back to his best across recent months.
The Scotland head coach said: “Jamie was involved in both our wins this year in the Six Nations.
"He's had to deal with no longer being captain and also deal with the increased competition in the back row.
"But I believe he played some of his best rugby at the end of the season with Edinburgh. He was showing his super strengths - he was in the top two of winning jackal turnovers in the URC.
"He's also very good aerially and that came out for Edinburgh and it's also more prevalent in Test rugby when they've changed these laws.”
Growing crowds in Scotland
The Australia game is the third sell-out of the Autumn at Murrayfield with over 60,000 also in attendance against Portugal last week. It’s a clear indication of the growing demand for Scotland internationals amongst the rugby community and Townsend hopes that surge can be matched in the club game.
“I'm amazed with the amount of people that are coming to our games,” Townsend admitted. “We've covered rugby in Scotland for a while and we didn't used to have this. The last time I played Portugal there was about 7,000 or 8,000 at the game and that was a full Test match. So that is a brilliant development in the game and long may it continue. The atmosphere in Murrayfield is so much better with a full crowd. The atmosphere on Test match day is amazing now. Let's see if we can get these people into the club game - not just the pro game, but the amateur club game.”
You’re a winger Harry!
J.K Rowling famously wrote parts of her Harry Potter books in Edinburgh and his real-life namesake will make his debut for Australia on Sunday. The 26-year-old will take his place on the wing and Townsend is fully aware of his threat.
Asked whether he had a spell to stop Potter, Townsend joked: “I'm not going to fall for that. I watched him a lot when he played at Leicester. I thought he was a quality player, very strong. He's the type of winger that I know Joe Schmidt will like. The wingers that Joe tended to select at Leinster and Ireland were always hard working. Really good in the contact area, out wide, with the ball and without the ball. Very good at chasing kicks too.”
Fagerson hits fifty
It will be a landmark occasion for Matt Fagerson as he earns his 50th cap and he’s become an integral part of the Scotland squad - to match his importance to Glasgow Warriors.
“He is a key leader in that area,” Townsend admitted. “Matt's still a young player. He was capped as a 19-year-old and he played a lot of rugby at 20 to 25 years old.
"Now he's coming into his prime physical years but also in terms of experience to put down markers. I think he's excited about playing number eight. He's performed well for us at number eight.”
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