More Wallabies woe with Scottish defeat at Murrayfield

Detailed summary

The Wallabies’ woes show no sign of abating after another bruising loss in a scruffy arm-wrestle of a Test against Scotland at Murrayfield.

The Wallabies’ woes show no sign of abating after another bruising loss in a scruffy arm-wrestle of a Test against Scotland at Murrayfield.

On a grey Sunday (Monday AEDT) afternoon in Edinburgh, Harry Wilson’s crew delivered another drab performance to match the weather in the worst game of a dramatic Nations Championship weekend as the Scots prevailed 15-12 in a Test to forget.

And to rub in the misery of a fourth-straight defeat for the Wallabies and their eighth-consecutive loss on their European travels stretching back two years, the key try for the hosts came from a former Wallaby stalwart, No.8 Jack Dempsey, in the first half.

The most excitement in a drab contest came in the dying seconds when Max Jorgensen sprinted over for the Wallabies' second try, following Harry Potter's first-half effort.

The successful conversion from Ben Donaldson left the Wallabies just three points behind going into the last minute.

So when Jorgensen and Tom Wright embarked on another late dash down the right flank with the 80 minutes up, it looked just for one moment as if the Wallabies might pull off the most unlikely of triumphs but the move was snuffed out, leaving Les Kiss to ponder another dispiriting loss.

And it won't get any easier. Next week, they have to travel to Cardiff to meet a Wales side completely buoyed by their historic win over New Zealand on Saturday.

But while that was a stupendous affair, full of drama, this Murrayfield slog, between two sides desperately needing a win and looking short on confidence, was a huge disappointment in comparison even if the Wallabies were at least much better in defence than they had been against England the previous week.

Not that the cheers of an ecstatic home crowd of 65,095 for the early score from Matt Fagerson and the 28th minute pick-and-go from Dempsey suggested as much.

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