Australia’s fly-half Joseph Dillon got the game underway. The Scots quickly earned a penalty after Australian hands were spotted in the ruck by the match officiating teams.

Scotland looked sharp in the opening exchanges, as scrum-half Hector Patterson and stand-off Matthew Urwin combined down the right wing for the game’s first real attacking move. A flick pass targeting right wing Cameron van Wyk was nearly intercepted by Australia, but the ball was knocked on.

Patterson continued to test the Australian defence with a dummy run off a Scottish lineout, but was bundled into touch. From the resulting scrum, Australia earned a penalty and their scrum-half, James Martens, tapped quickly and, with Scotland scattered, he darted over the whitewash to score the game’s opening try. Fly-half Harvey’s conversion from the right side went wide (5-0, 9 mins).

Scotland responded immediately. With Australian centre Liam Grover caught offside just inside the 22, Urwin kicked to the corner for an attacking lineout on the five-metre line. Logan soared to gather cleaning and the maul surged forward, with Freddy Douglas crashing over the line, capping off a well-executed set piece. Urwin couldn’t add the extras, but Scotland were back on level terms (5-5, 13 mins).

Australia regained the lead shortly after. A lineout near halfway set up a sweeping move that ended with Nick Conway finishing in the left-hand corner, despite a desperate tackle from Fergus Watson. Harvey was unable to convert (10-5, 16 mins).

Shortly after the restart, Scotland’s Ollie McKenna was penalised for being offside, and Australia opted to kick at goal, but Harvey’s effort drifted wide (19 mins).

Scotland countered smartly, with the ever-alert Douglas stealing the restart, and after a well-placed kick to the corner from Urwin, Scotland’s lineout found its mark. Kerr Yule carried strongly, and under a high tackle advantage, the ball was worked wide for Ollie Duncan to finish on the left wing. Urwin’s conversion hit the right post, and the score remained level (10-10, 22 mins).

At the cooling break, Logan left the field for a Head Injury Assessment, with Charlie Moss coming on in his place.

The Junior Wallabies looked to kick on, and after earning a penalty with Scotland pinged for not rolling, they began to quickly string phases together to break deeper into Scottish territory through Harvey, who kicked to within 10 metres. Knocking on the whitewash, Australia were really testing Scotland’s defence. Under penalty advantage, hooker Lipina Ata powered over from close range for Australia’s third try. This time, Harvey added the extras (17-10, 27 mins)

Scotland weren’t done. Fergus Watson forced a turnover from a quick Australian tap, and Urwin’s pinpoint 50:22 kick gave Scotland excellent field position. Yule made a surging carry from the back of the lineout, and with Australia penalised for not rolling away, Scotland pressed on. Patterson spun the ball wide to Jed Findlay, who dotted down for the score. Urwin slotted the conversion to tie the scores. However, drama followed. The TMO called play back for a knock-on in the build-up, with Watson ruled to be the culprit. The silver lining was that Scotland had had advantage,  and play returned to the 22-metre line. Urwin kicked to the corner, but Scotland’s momentum was halted as Freddy Douglas was caught offside, Australia regained control.

After play was taken back into Australia’s 22, the Junior Wallabies fumbling play gave Scotland a scrum. Patterson went on a snipe down the right-hand side, and just as he was breaking the line, he attempted to hand off a pass but knocked it on. The referee brought play to a close, and both sides rushed down the tunnel to escape the heat.

Half-time: Australia 17 – 10 Scotland

Scotland restarted strongly in Viadana, with Cameron van Wyk taking the kick-off cleanly and drawing a penalty for being tackled in the air. Urwin kicked to the corner, but the lineout slipped through Moss’ fingers, and the opportunity went begging. Another misfired Scottish lineout gave Australia further reprieve, but a knock-on by Nick Conway inside his own 22 handed Scotland another chance.

This time, Jed Findlay made no mistake. From a sharp set piece, he darted over in the corner and grounded the ball, with defenders hanging off him. Urwin added the extras to level the scores (17-17, 45 mins).

Australia nearly responded through Tom Robinson, who was held up over the line after a quick tap penalty. Scotland’s defence stood tall, with Douglas stopping the score.

Scotland built pressure again after Joe Roberts won a jackal penalty and Patterson’s clever grubber forced Australia deep. After several phases inside the 22, Scotland knocked the ball ending a stretch of positive attack.

Soon after, Australia’s Joey Fowler was shown a yellow card for dangerous contact at a ruck – upgraded to a review for red. With Australia down to 14, Scotland capitalised. Following a strong phases from the pack carry then saw Duncan crashing over in the corner for his second try. Substitute Coates added the extras (17-24, 62 mins).

After regathering a charged kick, Australia forced a penalty inside Scotland’s 22. From the lineout, scrum-half James Martens sniped over for his second try of the match, and Harvey converted to tie the game once again (24-24, 65 mins).

Momentum began to shift Australia’s way. Malakye Enasio sliced through the Scottish line and offloaded to Watters, who was stopped just short but Finn Baxter finished from close range minutes later. Harvey missed the conversion, but Australia took the lead (29-24, 71 mins).

Scotland tried to rally, but a loose ball at the ruck handed Australia a 50:22. From the lineout, they mauled over, with Will Guilfoyle grabbing his debut try. Harvey again missed the conversion (34-24, 74 mins).

With the clock winding down, Scotland earned a final chance to score from a jackal penalty. Coates kicked to the corner, but a forward pass out wide to van Wyk snuffed out the attack. Australia’s Martens looked to have sealed a hat-trick with an intercept try, but TMO review ruled it out for offside. Scotland kicked to the corner one last time in search of a second bonus point, but Australia stole the lineout and Martens cleared to end the game.

Full-time: Australia 34 – 24 Scotland

Scotland: 15. Jed Findlay 14. Cameron van Wyk 13. Johnny Ventisei – Co-captain 12. Kerr Yule 11. Fergus Watson 10. Matthew Urwin 9. Hector Patterson 1. Oliver McKenna 2. Joe Roberts 3. Ollie Blyth-Lafferty 4. Dylan Cockburn 5. Dan Halkon 6. Oliver Duncan 7. Freddy Douglas – Co-captain 8. Reuben Logan

Replacements: 16. Seb Stephen (on for Dylan Cockburn, 54 mins) 17. Ben White (on for Oliver McKenna, 47 mins) 18. Jamie Stewart (on for Ollie Blyth-Lafferty, 54 mins) 19. Charlie Moss (on for Reuben Logan, 23 mins) 20. Mark Fyffe (on for Dan Halkon, 37 mins)  21. Noah Cowan (on for Hector Patterson, 63 mins) 22. Isaac Coates (on for Nathan Urwin, 58 mins) 23. Jack Hocking (on for Kerr Yule, 72 mins)

Australia: 15. Sid Harvey 14. Cooper Watters 13. Liam Grover 12. Malakye Enasio 11. Nicholas Conway 10. Joe Dillon 9. James Martens 1. Nathaniel Tiitii 2. Lipina Ata 3. Edwin Langi 4. Joe Mangelsdorf 5. Eamon Doyle – Captain 6. Eli Langi 7. Tom Robinson 8. Beau Morrison

Replacements: 16. Will Guilfoyle 17. Finn Baxter 18. Trevor King 19. Ollie Aylmer 20. Toby Brial 21. Hwi Sharples 22. Joey Fowler 23. Xavier Rubens

Referee: Lex Weiner (USAR)
Assistant Referee 1: Griffin Colby (SARU)
Assistant Referee 2: Franco Rosella (FIR)
TMO: Dan Jones (RFU)