Tries: M Fagerson, Dempsey Con: Russell Pens: Russell
Scotland edged a dull Nations Championship encounter against Australia at Murrayfield, a game that brought rugby fans crashing back down to earth after the brilliance of France's win against South Africa on Friday and the jaw-dropping wonder of Wales beating the All Blacks on Saturday.
Matt Fagerson, an impressive juggernaut, and Jack Dempsey scored for Scotland, Harry Potter got one for Australia, all in the first half hour.
We waited another 47 minutes before Finn Russell banged over a penalty to make it 15-5. Max Jorgensen's converted try with seconds remaining narrowed the gap. A little flurry at the end of a hugely disappointing, attritional Test.
Apart from isolated moments, it was a game of turnovers, missed opportunities and a terrible absence of anything resembling class. Compliment the grunt, but…
It was chaos. Every breakdown was a lottery, an ugly dogfight. The longer it went on, the more Australia became serial offenders. That game-clinching penalty from Russell was on the back of multiple Wallaby breakdown offences.
There were some seriously creative and pacy players out there but we hardly saw them. Precious little fast ball, precious little buzz from two teams who are well capable of excitement. Neither attack sparked never mind fired. The final whistle came as something of a blessing.
