79′ Hunter Paisami with a pretty obvious deliberate knock-on as Blair Kinghorn was offloading. Luke Pearce waves the yellow, but then appears to renege on his call and Paisami returns. Scotland on the front foot and win a penalty again, just at the Wallabies’ 10m line. Kinghorn is going to have a crack to win the game here..
70′ Hamish Watson caught a number of yards offside at an Australia attacking maul and Nic Berry doesn’t need great eyesight to see the guilty flanker. Bernard Foley restores Australia’s one-point lead; it’s 15-16 with. ten to go in Edinburgh.
60′ George Turner takes over from Dave Cherry at hooker, with Jack Dempsey entering the fray for his Scotland debut, replacing Glasgow Warriors teammate Matt Fagerson.
Additionally, Jamie Bhatti and WP Nel are on in the stead of Pierre Schoeman and Zander Fagerson.
45′ Australia reeling after being called for obstruction, as Kinghorn finds a lovely touch inside the opposition 22..
61′ The visitors have been looking dangerous and make good on that promise with captain James Slipper cosying over from close range. Foley adds the extras, who cut lead Scotland’s lead to 2 points at 15-13.
51′ Australia are anything but pushovers and earn a scrum penalty for Scotland collapsing. Dave Cherry steals though and all of a sudden, the home side are back on the attack, winning a penalty of their own for offside. Kinghorn nudges one for a 5m line-out..
39′ Dave Cherry not rolling away, and Luke Pearce calls the penalty. Form 30m out, Bernard Foley slots it to give Australia the narrowest of leads at the interval.
74′ Damien Hoyland wins a first cap since 2017 and replaces Darcy Graham on the right wing. Scottish scrum halfway inside their own territory. Oh hang on, the Wallabies have collapsed and it’s a Scotland penalty. Line-out on the halfway and the crowd sense something happening..
80′ It’s so close. It’s so, so close. Blair Kinghorn’s penalty just misses to the left, and the vast majority of the crowd is numbed. That signals full-time at BT Murrayfield and it’s Australia who celebrate a 16-15 victory and with it, the Hopetoun Cup.
53′ After brief deliberation between captain Ritchie and kicker Kinghorn, the latter slots his first penalty of the afternoon to give Scotland a 15-6 lead.
55′ After claiming the ball from an Ali Price box-kick, Scotland’s Duhan van der Merwe gets his motor running up the left wing, but is just taken down short. Price then feeds Gilchrist but a knock-on puts paid to momentum. It remains 15-6 at BT Murrayfield.
67′ Glen Young returns from the bin just as Australia are penalised for offside, and Kinghorn, as he’s done all day, takes Scotland into the opposition 22. George Horne on for Ali Price at scrum-half.
Coin toss done, and we’re half an hour from kick off! 🤩
56′ Luke Pearce has consulted with his match team and they have determined that Glen Young merits ten minutes in the sin bin for an illegal entry.
Bernard Foley gets proceedings live again, post-refreshments. His side lead by a point in this Autumn Nations Series opener at BT Murrayfield.
42′ What a ridiculous piece of skill from Blair Kinghorn! The stand-off boots a loose ball 50m upfield with his left foot, chasing after it like a road runner, before using his big left again to dribble, gather and go over. Magical from the Edinburgh Rugby pivot, who converts to give Scotland a 12-6 lead.
A first cap at BT Murrayfield – how apt then that Ollie Smith should score his first international try into the bargain?
28′ After something in the region of 20 phases camped on the Wallabies line, the visitors hold the ball up with some stellar defensive work. They clear with a goal-line dropout but Scotland are in the ascendancy..
25‘ After an offside, Blair Kinghorn spirals one into a perfect position for an attacking line-out. Scotland claim successfully and then march through the phases, the ball eventually looping out to Sione Tuipulotu, who just can’t make the catch stick when set to score. Advantage though for offside and we go again..
32′ He may be 32-years-old and nearly two metres tall, but Grant Gilchrist shows the athletic enthusiasm of a toddler in feasting on a loose ball to gain back possession and ultimately allow his team to briefly relieve the pressure. Australia still set, though.
The tale of a tight first half, which was low on points but without shortage of intense rugby, is that Australia lead by one through two Bernard Foley penalty goals.
Scotland opened the scoring with a beautifully taken Ollie Smith try – a first for his country – after 11 minutes, the full-back wriggling his way through a Wallabies defence that were momentarily in disarray.
Tate McDermott makes a devilish break and tries to chip Ollie Smith when one-on-one, but the ball goes long and Darcy Graham can touch it down for a goal-line dropout.
Australia then pinged for not releasing, to the delight of the home crowd. Kinghorn kicks us up to the halfway line.
7′ A sustained period of Australian pressure, during which they look on the verge of the game’s first try, amounts to nothing after not releasing once more. Kinghorn clears again and we remain scoreless, but no less entertained, after seven minutes.
KICK-OFF
The Autumn Nations Series is officially up and running as Blair Kinghorn hoofs the ball into the Edinburgh sky.
Proper footballing skills from the big number 10.
14′ Jamie Ritchie is penalised at the breakdown and Bernard Foley, he of 638 international points already, adds another three from 30m out. 5-3 Scotland.
Today is Jamie Ritchie’s first international as Scotland skipper, of course. He did hold co-captaincy duties with Ali Price for last year’s Autumn Nations Series game against Tonga, but today will be extra special for Jamie and his family.
Pete Samu drops out of the Wallabies 23 and is replaced by Waratahs back-row Langi Gleeson, who would make his Australia debut should he come on.
31′ Australia’s turn for territorial advantage now, a rumbling maul looking ominous and only halted by Scottish hands interfering. The Wallabies have kicked for a short line-out in the sense of a breakthrough.
No better build up 🎸
Fans can join us at the North Stage to watch Moonlight Zoo from 3.30pm.
11′ Out of nowhere, Scotland are in the lead with a dazzling Ollie Smith try!! A gorgeous offload by Kinghorn allows the Glasgow Warriors full-back, on his first cap at BT Murrayfield, to waltz over! It’s 5-0 to the hosts.
Important information to remember ahead today’s match!
Dave Rennie’s side arrive at a bustling BT Murrayfield
Looking for some pre-match listening?
Catch up with the latest episode of the Official Scottish Rugby Podcast now.
Jack Dempsey (20) will make his Scotland debut today, with Glen Young (19) set for a first cap at home if called upon.
22′ Another blow of the whistle by referee Luke Pearce a result of what looked like players coming into the ruck off their feet. Foley finds touch but they make a mess of the line-out and Foley eventually then misses another touch to give Scotland a platform they can really attack from here..
For the thistle 🏴
Get your new 22/23 @MacronSports Scotland kits via @scotrugbystore, in-store and online.
🛍️ https://t.co/MOFzYixjs8 pic.twitter.com/Uwvqok6dRY
— Scottish Rugby (@Scotlandteam) October 29, 2022
15 minutes to kick off ⌛
Duhan van der Merwe wins his 20th cap today and with 12 tries already notched, the BT Murrayfield crowd will get excited when the ball reaches his hands..
Hello and welcome along to our live match centre for Scotland v Australia at BT Murrayfield.
Join us this afternoon for all the build-up to the Autumn Nations Series opener and then during the match we’ll have in-game updates and stats.
Kick-off is at 5.30pm BST.
Here is a reminder of your Scotland team to face Australia at BT Murrayfield this evening.
Here is everything you need to know if you’re coming to BT Murrayfield today.
Here are the kick-off times for today’s game wherever you are in the world – watch live on Amazon Prime Video.
A reminder of your Scotland team v Australia
We’re live on TikTok right now!
Come join us for some pre-game hype with Jim Hamilton 🏴
Scotland are aiming for a record fourth-straight victory over the Wallabies today, following wins in 2017 (twice) and 2021.
Your Scotland team are in the building….
One that got away. Scotland outscored Australia two tries to one but were just not clinical enough in the Wallabies’ red zone and were left to rue missed opportunities at BT Murrayfield this evening.
Australia thus won the Hopetoun Cup for the first time since 2017 after three successive Scotland victories.
Scotland did have a chance to snatch a win in the closing stages but Blair Kinghorn – whose second half try added to Ollie Smith’s early score – pushed a penalty wide. That and his conversion miss of Smith’s try was among the chances Scotland passed up.
But as Scotland captain Jamie Ritchie remarked in his post-match TV interview it would be wrong to point the finger of blame solely at Kinghorn given some of the self-inflicted damage in the first half.
Scotland great Kenny Logan, who won 70 caps bookended by Australia, delivered the match ball as he continues his recovery prostate cancer.
Scotland under new captain Ritchie, made a rousing entrance and on completion of the anthems, kicked off towards Roseburn Park through Blair Kinghorn.
It was an all-action opening, where Smith’s rolling touchfinder sparked an Australian counterattack and the Scotland full-back on his BT Murrayfield debut soon was faced by Wallabies scrum-half Tate McDermott chipping over him and then taking contact as Scotland scrambled back to touch down.
A scrum penalty saw Scotland opt for the touchline. From the lineout on the 22 won by Sam Skinner, Sione Tuipulotu made the first tilt and Pierre Schoeman the second. Tuipulotu was involved again and with Mark Bennett the link Smith then jinked and weaved his way to a sumptuous try. Kinghorn missed the conversion (5-0, 11 mins).
Bernard Foley pulled back three points for Australia with a penalty against Schoeman at a breakdown (5-3, 14 mins).
Skinner, fresh from securing a loose ball on the deck, in the wake of a pulverising tackle from Hamish Watson, departed injured with Glen Young introduced for his home Scotland debut.
We were inside the second quarter now and Scotland decided to plump for the touchline rather than kick at goal. Young caught and there were a succession of pick and goes in the shadow of the visitors’ posts before the Wallabies infringed anew.
With the advantage being played, Kinghorn fired a pass off his left hand, but Tuipulotu spilled with the try line beckoning.
Back for the penalty and Scotland went through nine phases of forward grunt only for Young to be then held up over the line.
Would the missed opportunities prove costly? Initially, with Australia on the attack, the omens did not appear good from a Scottish perspective, but Australia could make little impression in the face of tigerish Scottish scramble defence and an alertness around the breakdown.
However, with half-time looming, Dave Cherry was penalised for not rolling away and Foley goaled to give Australia a one-point advantage. (5-6, 40 mins).
Half-time: Scotland 5 Australia 6
During the interval Scottish Rugby expressed condolences to former Scotland stand-off Bryan Gossman who died yesterday aged 71. Earlier, in the 8th minute, appreciation was shown via applause to the late former Scotland Women’s No 8 Siobhan Cattigan who died last year.
Australia restarted but within three minutes Scotland had regained the lead.
Their handling attack broke down in the face of Bennett’s tackle and Kinghorn got boot to ball twice and outpaced the visitors’ defence to gleefully capture a very decent bounce and dot down. It was his ninth try for Scotland, a sixth at BT Murrayfield and was a glorious smash and grab. Kinghorn added the extras (12-6, 45 mins).
From a typical Grant Gilchrist thrust, Kinghorn found a cracking touch on the five-metre line from a penalty.
Gilchrist won the lineout too, but Scotland could not get the ball to deck at the subsequent drive.
Australia cleared from the scrum penalty that came their way, but Cherry pilfered the lineout throw over the top and Scotland attacked with renewed vigour earning another penalty, which Kinghorn landed (15-6, 53 mins).
Duhan Van Der Merwe escaped down the left touchline from Ali Price’s high kick, but the rampaging Gilchrist knocked on and then Scotland lost Young to the sin bin after referee Luke Pearce adjudged him to have made head contact on McDermott.
Van Der Merwe had to shepherd a kick ahead to safety in his own in-goal, but Australia did grab a try through captain James Slipper in the aftermath. Foley converted (15-13, 61 mins).
Young had returned from his yellow card, but Australia pinched a Scotland lineout and then edged ahead through Foley’s third penalty (15-16, 70 mins).
Scotland could not break the shackles. However, confusion ensued when it seemed that Australian centre Hunter Paisami appeared to have been shown the yellow card by referee Pearce for what looked like a deliberate knock-on. He did however remain on the field, perhaps a TMO intervention?
From Scotland’s subsequent attack off lineout ball Australia were penalised as Taniela Tupou held on at a ruck set up first by Watson and then Tuipulotu.
From 40 metres as the clock entered the final minute Kinghorn miscued pushing the ball to the left of the posts.
And with that the chance of the win was lost.
Full-time: Scotland 15 Australia 16
Attendance: 65,286.
Famous Grouse Player of the Match: James Slipper (Australia).
Scotland: Ollie Smith (Glasgow Warriors); Darcy Graham, Mark Bennett (both Edinburgh Rugby), Sione Tuipulotu (Glasgow Warriors), Duhan Van Der Merwe; Blair Kinghorn (both Edinburgh Rugby), Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors); Pierre Schoeman, Dave Cherry (both Edinburgh Rugby), Zander Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors), Sam Skinner, Grant Gilchrist, Jamie Ritchie CAPTAIN, Hamish Watson (all Edinburgh Rugby) and Matt Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors).
Subs: George Turner (Glasgow Warriors) for Cherry (60 mins), Jamie Bhatti (Glasgow Warriors) for Schoeman (60 mins), W P Nel (Edinburgh Rugby) for Zander Fagerson (60 mins), Glen Young (Edinburgh Rugby) for Skinner (24 mins), Jack Dempsey (Glasgow Warriors) for Matt Fagerson (60 mins) George Horne (Glasgow Warriors) for Price (66 mins), Ross Thompson (Glasgow Warriors) and Damien Hoyland (Edinburgh Rugby) for Graham (74 mins).
Yellow card: Glen Young (56 mins).
Australia: Tom Banks; Andrew Kellaway, Len Ikitau, Hunter Paisami, Tom Wright; Bernard Foley, Tate McDermott; James Slipper CAPTAIN, David Porecki, Allan Alaalatoa, Nick Frost, Cadeyrn Neville, Jed Holloway, Michael Hooper, Rob Valentini.
Subs: Folau Fainga’a for Porecki (57 mins), Matt Gibbon for Slipper (66 mins), Taniela Tupou for Alaalatoa (40 mins) , Ned Hanigan for Neville 62 mins), Langi Gleeson for Valentin (74 mins), Nic White for McDermott (56 mins), Noah Lolesio for Foley (74 mins), Jock Campbell for Banks (66 mins)
Referee: Luke Pearce (England). Assistant referees: Karl Dickson and Cristophe Ridley (both England). TMO: Stuart Terheege (England).
80:00 Second Half End
74:17
74:14
74:13
70:21
66:57
66:49
66:44
62:24
62:06
60:39
59:57
59:56
59:55
59:54
57:40
56:29
55:19
53:12
43:45
42:23
40:00 First Half End
40:22
40:00
23:50
15:20
10:43
Kick-off 5:30 pm
