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A powerful Scottish side is ready to make life hard for the Wallabies, with all their big guns, including the ‘Messi of rugby’ Finn Russell, back in the starting line-up for the Murrayfield Test.
The hosts have made 14 changes to their starting XV following the warm-up thrashing of Portugal, with their mercurial No.10 Russell ready to orchestrate affairs in Edinburgh on Sunday (Monday, 12:40am AEDT).
In what shapes as the toughest test yet for the Wallabies on their British Isles tour after wins against England and Wales, the Scots unveiled a formidable side on Friday, headed by Russell, who’s just three short of scoring 400 points in international rugby.
Melburnian Sione Tuipulotu will lead the side in what will be an emotional occasion for the former Australia Under-20 international who’s swapped allegiances through his Scottish grandmother, who’s flown across to watch him.
Tuipulotu and Huw Jones resume their powerful partnership in the centre, while prolific try scorers Duhan van der Merwe and Darcy Graham, the only player who started against the Portuguese, will be on the wings, with Blair Kinghorn at fullback.
Van der Merwe and Graham jointly hold the record for most international tries for Scotland with 29 each.
Hooker Ewan Ashman and props Pierre Schoeman and Zander Fagerson make up the front row, while Grant Gilchrist and Scott Cummings are the two locks.
The loose trio features No.8 Matt Fagerson, who earns his 50th cap, and flankers Jamie Ritchie and Rory Darge.
Earlier in the November series, Scotland recorded an impressive 57-17 win over Fiji before losing 32-15 to South Africa after giving the world champions a bit of a scare.
“The players have earned the right to be in the team with the way they have performed,” coach Gregor Townsend said.
Sione Tuipulotu. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images for Scottish Rugby)
“It is one of the most experienced Scotland teams we have selected and they are in a good space in terms of their leadership and what they have learned over the last year or two.
“We know what a big game this is to end our year with our best performance,” he said.
“Australia are a quality side and always have been, and have a full squad to pick from with talented and experienced players. They will be confident.”
Much will depend on the ball Russell gets.
The 32-year-old, whose reported $1.95 million deal even blows Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii’s contract out of the water, can do things most playmakers in the world can’t dream of.
Even the Scottish No.10 says he tries to play the game “kinda like Messi” – a line the former Racing Metro playmaker used during Netflix’s Six Nations documentary last year.
Tongue-in-cheek or not, it’s something Irish great Brian O’Driscoll admitted wasn’t far from the truth.
“It’s hard to argue with him to be honest with you. If you had to pick someone, I wouldn’t be shying away from it. I know he said it tongue-in-cheek,” O’Driscoll said.
“It’s the orchestrating, biding his time, finding the right moment, but then creating this spark of magic. He has lightning in his skill set and I always love coming to any rugby match that he’s involved in because you know something positive or negative will happen – but more often than not it’s positive these days.”
“Kinda Like Messi…” ⚽️#SixNationsFullContact pic.twitter.com/5MHv9jnCjL
— Guinness Men’s Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) January 24, 2024
Despite not being able to fire a shot against South Africa during their past two meetings, the Wallabies are acutely aware of the threat of Russell.
“Finn Russell, he’s pretty special, everyone in world rugby knows that,” Wallabies halfback Nic White said.
Asked how you stop him, White said “You don’t.”
Quite simply, you don’t stop a guy like that,” he said.
Townsend has once again picked a strong pack, with Pierre Schoeman at loose-head prop with Zander Fagerson on the other side of the scrum.
Despite former Wallaby Jack Dempsey missing because of a shoulder injury, Scotland still have a strong back-rower with skipper Jamie Ritchie returning at blindside flanker alongside Rory Darge and Matt Fagerson.
Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt has made six changes to his run-on side from the one that comfortably beat Wales 52-20, with Harry Potter to debut on the wing while Carlo Tizzano replaces Fraser McReight.
Scotland team: Pierre Schoeman, Ewan Ashman Zander Fagerson, Grant Gilchrist, Scott Cummings, Jamie Ritchie, Rory Darge, Matt Fagerson, Ben White, Finn Russell, Duhan van der Merwe, Sione Tuipulotu (c) Huw Jones, Darcy Graham, Blair Kinghorn
Replacements: Dylan Richardson, Rory Sutherland, Will Hurd, Alex Craig, Josh Bayliss, George Horne, Tom Jordan, Kyle Rowe
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