Duhan van der Merwe reclaims record as Scotland beat Australia

The winger’s second half score, his 30th international try, saw him edge back in front of compatriot Darcy Graham in the all-time scoring charts as Scotland ended the Wallabies’ hopes of a Grand Slam.  

Captain Sione Tuipulotu, playing against the land of his birth, put the home side ahead at half-time before they cut loose after the break, with tries from Josh Bayliss and Finn Russell adding to an emphatic win, though debutant Harry Potter did score a consolation for the tourists late on. 

Here are five things we learned from Scottish Gas Murrayfield. 

Weathering an early storm 

Scotland wasted a good chance inside five minutes when Finn Russell failed to find Huw Jones off a set move and Australia enjoyed a good spell afterwards, which ended with fly-half Noah Lolesio landing a penalty to put the visitors ahead. 

Noah Lolesio landed an early penalty for the visitors (Image: Andrew Milligan/PA Wire) Russell had chances to reply immediately but turned down three points in favour of the lineout, but the opportunity amounted to nothing so when Australia infringed on 20 minutes, the fly-half took the pragmatic approach, only for his penalty from straight in front of the posts to rebound off the uprights.  

And Scotland took the lead when Sione Tuipulotu stormed onto Ewan Ashman’s long throw to go over. Russell converted.  

Pressure - and patience - eventually leads to points

Scotland had the best of the second quarter after taking the lead but failed to add to their tally with a combination of inaccuracies and ill-discipline costly.  

The home side created good chances and caused Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii problemms defensively before he departed after a big shot on Scotland’s captain.  

A Russell penalty three minutes into the second half extended the lead to 10-3 but it was cancelled out by Lolesio two minutes later after Blair Kinghorn was caught holding on.  

Scotland again found the outside edge of the Wallabies defence but spurned another chance as Kinghorn failed to hold Darcy Graham’s pass.  It was a frustrating period for the hosts. 

Controversial moment sparks Murrayfield into life 

A sweeping Scotland counter attack early in the second half was halted only by Tom Wright’s block on Ben White, but after a lengthy review, the officials deemed the Australia fullback had not committed foul play.

The Murrayfield crowd did not agree, with boos ringing round the stadium and the incident sparked the hosts into life, with Duhan van der Merwe scoring just two minutes later to reclaim the try-scoring record. Russell’s conversion from out wide took the lead to 11 points.  

Ben White receives attention (Image: SNS) Simultaneously, the Wallabies lost giant lock Will Skelton to injury and replaced their front-row as the tide turned in the hosts’ favour.  

And Scotland made sure of victory when Josh Bayliss got on the end of a terrific break by Graham and despite having plenty of work to do, the Bath back-rower held off the cover deefence to score.  

Outstanding performers 

Scotland got on top of the Wallabies up front, and Pierre Schoeman was at the heart of the home pack’s effort. Excellent at the set-piece alongside Zander Fagerson, the Edinburgh prop was equally busy around the field both sides of the ball.  

Jamie Ritchie, who has had a mixed year, was also excellent on his return to the starting line-up, while Josh Bayliss added impact from the bench. 

Behind the scrum, Ben White also proved why he should be the first-choice at scrum-half moving forward with an all-action display. 

Good win to build into the Six Nations

After a mixed year that started with wins over Wales and England before an ultimately disappointing fourth-place Six Nations finish, Scotland must now take this win into next year's championship. 

Italy are the visitors to Edinburgh on the opening weekend - and with Ireland and Wales also visiting Murrayfield, if Scotland can win their home games they could put themselves in contention. 

But they must now back this performance up in the new year. 

Scotland: Blair Kinghorn, Darcy Graham, Huw Jones, Sione Tuipulotu (captain), Duhan van der Merwe, Finn Russell, Ben White (Horne 63); Pierre Schoeman (Sutherland 60), Ewan Ashman (Richardson 60), Zander Fagerson (Hurd 71), Grant Gilchrist (Craig 71), Scott Cummings, Jamie Ritchie, Rory Darge (Bayliss 63), Matt Fagerson 

Tries: Tuipulotu (22), van der Merwe (50), Bayliss (67), Russell (70) 

Conversions: Russell (23, 51) 

Penalty: Russell (43) 

Australia: Tom Wright, ⁠Andrew Kellaway, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii (Jorgensen 31), Len Ikitau, Harry Potter, Noah Lolesio (Donaldson 71), Jake Gordon (McDermott 60); Angus Bell (Kailea 51), Brandon Paenga-Amosa (Pollard 51) Allan Alaalatoa (Nonggorr 51), Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, Will Skelton (Frost 48), Rob Valetini (Gleeson 63), Carlo Tizzano, Harry Wilson (captain) 
 
Try: Potter (74)

Conversion: Donaldson (75)

Penalties: Lolesio (11, 44) 

Referee: Chris Busby (Ireland) 

Attendance: 67,144 

Player of the Match: Blair Kinghorn