The Wallabies have survived a tense finish to escape Murrayfield with a 16-15 win over Scotland.
Blair Kinghorn had a 79th-minute penalty to win the game for the hosts, pushing it to the left as the visitors started their Spring Tour on a positive note.
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Ollie Smith got Scotland off to the perfect start before a pair of Bernard Foley penalties put the Wallabies in front at the break.
This was short-lived as Kinghorn won the race to a loose ball to put Scotland in front 15-6.
Glen Young's yellow card brought Dave Rennie's men back into the contest as James Slipper dived over, with the boot of Foley proving the difference-maker with a 70th-minute penalty.
“There’s a bit of relief especially with Blair Kinghorn lining up and a hell of a lot of noise in the crowd so there’s either a hell of a lot of Aussies or some drunk Scotsman in the stands. We’re happy to hang on,” Rennie said after the match.
“I’m proud of the effort because at 15-6 we’d given up a soft try straight after half-time but we fought our way back in and put our nose in front.
“We can be a lot better. We had a lot of possession inside their 22 we didn’t convert and we knew Scotland were very good post-tackle and got their hand on the ball so we know we have to better against France.
“There’s been a hell of a lot of hard work from people and it’s pleasing to get a result."
The Wallabies were dealt a late blow as Pete Samu (back) was ruled out, handing Langi Gleeson a debut.
This failed to derail their campaign as they started strong via Tate McDermott, who relished his first start of 2022, instantly breaking through the line.
Whilst the visitors had the early chances, it was Scotland that opened the scoring as Ollie Smith sliced through some weak defence to dive over.
The Scottish continued to build pressure via the breakdown as the Wallabies struggled to build consistent pressure.
Bernard Foley reduced the margin via a penalty goal as both teams traded attacking opportunities.
The Wallabies went close before the ball spurted out whilst great work from Rob Valetini held up lock Glen Young over the line after the hosts turned down multiple penalty shot opportunities.
Foley’s second penalty of the night got Dave Rennie’s men in front at the break as they struggled to make use of their dominant share of territory.
Scotland caught the Wallabies napping after the break as a loose pass from Foley hit the deck, allowing Blair Kinghorn to grubber it through and win the race to the putdown.
Some great maul defence from the visitors kept them in the contest before Kinghorn extend the lead via the boot.
As the hosts built pressure, the Wallabies were given a golden opportunity when Glen Young’s cleanout collected Tate McDermott in the head, earning a yellow card.
This allowed captain James Slipper to strike, finishing off some great interchange between the forwards and backs.
With the game in the balance, the Wallabies earned a penalty with ten to go, with Foley continuing his perfect night to put the visitors in front.
After a strong injection, Taniela Tupou provided Scotland with one last chance to win the game after a breakdown infringement.
Up stepped Kinghorn, who pushed the penalty to the left to stun a packed Murrayfield crowd as the siren sounded.
Needing to close out the game, Nic White's experience shone through as he delivered a bullet restart to find the touchline on the bounce, getting the Wallabies home
SCOTLAND 15
TRIES: Smith, Kinghorn
CONS: Kinghorn 1/2
PENS: Kinghorn 1/2
WALLABIES 16
TRIES: Slipper
CONS: Foley 1/1
PENS: Foley 3/3
Scotland: 15 Ollie Smith, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Blair Kinghorn, 9 Ali Price, 8 Matt Fagerson, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Jamie Ritchie (captain), 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Sam Skinner, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Dave Cherry, 1 Pierre Schoeman.
Replacements: 16 George Turner, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 WP Nel, 19 Glen Young, 20 Jack Dempsey, 21 George Horne, 22 Ross Thompson, 23 Damien Hoyland.
Australia: 15 Tom Banks, 14 Andrew Kellaway, 13 Len Ikitau, 12 Hunter Paisami, 11 Tom Wright, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Tate McDermott, 8 Rob Valetini, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Jed Holloway, 5 Cadeyrn Neville, 4 Nick Frost, 3 Allan Alaalatoa, 2 David Porecki, 1 James Slipper (captain).
Replacements: 16 Folau Fainga’a, 17 Matt Gibbon, 18 Taniela Tupou, 19 Ned Hanigan, 20 Langi Gleeson, 21 Nic White, 22 Noah Lolesio, 23 Jock Campbell.
Referee: Luke Pearce (England)
Assistant referees: Karl Dickson (England), Christophe Ridley (England)
TMO: Stuart Terheege (England)
