All Blacks great Andrew Mehrtens has praised the Wallabies for showing “a bit of character” in their hard-fought 16-15 win over Scotland at Murrayfield.
Coming off three straight losses to end their Rugby Championship campaign, including back-to-back defeats to the All Blacks, Australia looked to return to winning ways against Scotland on Sunday (AEST).
The Wallabies welcomed back a number of stars to their matchday squad for their opening spring tour Test, including international veteran Michael Hooper.
While Scotland scored the only try of the opening half, two Bernard Foley penalty goals saw the visitors lead at the break – but the advantage didn’t last for long.
Scotland flyhalf Blair Kinghorn scored 10 points in 11 minutes, including a stunning try, which saw the hosts go up 15-6.
While a controversial yellow card was a talking point after the match, it brought Australia back into the contest and they made the most of it.
Foley kicked a penalty with less than 10 minutes to play to give the visitors one-point lead, while Kinghorn missed a shot goal at the death which would’ve won the Test.
Speaking to Stan Sport post-game, Mehrtens said the Wallabies knew that they’d “dodged a bullet£ after the tense Test.
“When they came off they were embracing and high fiving and jubilant, like it’d been a World Cup playoff match,” Mehrtens said.
“They were under no illusions, they were looking down the barrel of a defeat here. They probably tried a little bit to play too much at times.
Luke Pearce’s decision to not send off Scotland’s Glen Young has come under the spotlight. #SCOvAUS https://t.co/PHMNx1cSrn
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“Scotland never looked likely to work their way all the way out of their own 22, down the Australian end and score. Everything they got came off Australians mistakes.
“Australia knew that they’ve dodged a bullet and they were very excited Mark, as we saw when they came off.”
With the World Cup on the horizon, this spring tour was always going to be an important marker for the Wallabies, so starting their five-match tour on the right foot was always going to be crucial.
Australia had lost by two points at Murrayfield almost a year earlier, before losing to England and Wales to finish their 2021 campaign.
“Losing in your first match of a five-match tour makes things really really tough. It’s very had to regain any kind of feeling after that,” Mehrtens added.
“This is no easy place to win. Scottish are passionate, we saw the crowd lift every time the Australians turned the ball over the Scottish, or every time the Scots held the Wallabies out on their line.
“They’ve got a history of being gritty and being able to shut you down here so it’s not a place where mugs win.
“It’s a good win. It’s not a good performance but it’s a great win to come through like that with a bit of character.”
While they’ve begun their five-match spring tour off to a ideal start, they’re now set to come up against World Number Two France at Stade de France this weekend.
It doesn’t get much easier for the Wallabies after that though, with games against Italy, Ireland and Wales still to come.
