Gregor Townsend hails Scotland defence as ‘one of the best’ in two years after gritty win over Australia

Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend has rated his side’s defence as one of the best he has seen in the last couple of years after a 15–12 win over Australia at Murrayfield.

Townsend was speaking to ITV after the Nations Championship Test on Sunday, as quoted by BBC Sport. Scotland had lost 43–21 to New Zealand a week earlier.

They made one line break all afternoon to Australia’s 10, according to the official Six Nations Rugby match data, but won nine turnovers to six and kept the Wallabies to two tries.

READ MORE: Scotland player ratings vs Australia: immense Darge leads 15-12 win

‘Constant effort’

“When we saw the rain half an hour before kick off, you still hope you’ll be able to move the ball. You could tell defences were coming off the line a bit quicker, knowing they could pressure the ball carrier,” Townsend said.

“Both teams had to adjust and I thought we did that well. Defensively, that’s one of the best performances I’ve seen in the last couple of years. Set after set we were putting them under pressure.

“We were on that edge of physicality but disciplined, hitting hard in the tackle, putting pressure on, listening to the referee, getting back onside. That makes it hard for the opposition to get into our 22m, which was a learning from last week.

“It was just constant effort. Today, we showed we can play another game, too.”

Scotland did not score between Finn Russell’s 28th-minute conversion and his penalty in the 74th minute, according to the official match data.

Matt Fagerson and Jack Dempsey scored Scotland’s tries in the first half hour, either side of one from Harry Potter, and Russell’s conversion of Dempsey’s try gave Scotland a 12–5 half-time lead. Australia had a Billy Pollard maul try ruled out for obstruction, and Pollard was later sin-binned for a head-on-head hit on Blair Kinghorn.

READ MORE: Scotland vs Australia match report | Nations Championship table after Round 5

‘Some shift from the boys’

Rory Darge captained the side after Sione Tuipulotu was ruled out before kick-off with a knee injury, and was named player of the match. He made 15 tackles and won two turnovers, according to the official match data. One of them, in the 66th minute, ended an Australian attack of 18 phases by the Guardian’s count and 15 by rugby.com.au’s.

“It was some shift from the boys, we knew Australia would respond after last week, and we were disappointed after last week’s performance,” Darge told ITV, as quoted by BBC Sport.

“A lot of that disappointment was with the physical side of the game and we did that really well.

“It was a bit of an arm wrestle, the conditions played their part. We know they want to throw the ball around, we like to play an attacking style but today was a battle of the defences.

“First of all, we need to enjoy the win and the moment. Come Monday, we know Japan will be disappointed and they’ll respond big.”

Former Scotland captain Greig Laidlaw, speaking on ITV and quoted by BBC Sport, singled out Darge’s call to kick at goal when Scotland won a penalty late on.

“It was a very smart decision at the end to take the three points at the end,” Laidlaw said. “There was a small discussion with Finn Russell and that’s not easy.”

BBC Scotland’s chief sports writer Tom English was less taken with the spectacle. “They never got their attack going but I have bemoaned this team and its lack of an ability to win ugly. Well, they won ugly today,” he said on Sportsound.

Russell’s kick put Scotland 10 clear. Max Jorgensen’s converted try in the 79th minute gave Australia a losing bonus point. They had one more attack from the restart, and Darcy Graham’s tackle ended it.

Newcastle back-rower Ollie Leatherbarrow won his first cap off the bench. The win lifts Scotland above Wales into fourth in the northern hemisphere table and keeps the Hopetoun Cup at Murrayfield.

READ MORE: Scotland v Australia stats: one line break to ten, and a Scotland win

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