AUTUMN SERIES: Scots pose formidable obstacle to Aussie quest

Two wins in two starts against Home Unions teams has given the Wallabies a whiff of something they haven’t done since Andrew Slack’s legendary team made history in 1984 - achieving a Grand Slam. It is a dream that will become very real if they beat Scotland in Edinburgh on Sunday, with one final game against Ireland to come.

Such an achievement would certainly underline and confirm the Australian turnaround from the ignominy of this time last year, when they had failed for the first time to get out of the Pool phase of a Rugby World Cup. It would gather momentum to a turnaround that arguably started halfway through their first Bledisloe Cup game against New Zealand in September.

The All Blacks were thrashing them up to around the half hour mark of that game at the Accor Stadium in Melbourne, and it looked like it could get ugly. However the Kiwis became loose and let the Aussies in for some tries that boosted the home team’s confidence and in the end the favourites from the other side of the Tasman Sea were hanging on for a 31-28 win.

It was more one-sided a week later in Wellington, but the 33-13 scoreline didn’t tell the full story of the fight the Wallabies put up - particularly in the early parts of that game. It looked then that there might be life for the Aussies under the coaching of Joe Schmidt, and so far their tour of the UK and Ireland is giving legs to that theory.

SCOTS ARGUABLY STRONGEST OPPONENTS SO FAR

A last gasp win over England at Twickenham was a massive statement and the 52 points they put past Wales last week was an indication that perhaps the London result wasn’t the only swallow trying to make it a summer. The Wallabies will arguably be up against their biggest test so far on Sunday though, with Scotland mixing up their matches against top nations with big wins against smaller teams that will boost their confidence.

The loss to South Africa two weeks ago means that Gregor Townsend’s team will be desperate for a big scalp, which the Wallabies have become again over the past fortnight. And while England might be considered more likely to challenge for World Cup glory in three years time than Scotland will be, just because Scotland’s southern neighbours do, or should, have more depth, the Scots are arguably in a better place right now in terms of confidence.

This is a litmus test for the Wallaby revival, and with the prospect of the following week’s game in Dublin, which falls outside of the international window, becoming a massive climax not just to the Wallaby tour but also to the autumn season in the northern hemisphere in that a rare Grand Slam will be on the line, most neutrals will probably be rooting for them. With a British and Irish Lions series scheduled for Australia next year, so will many British and Irish people outside of Scotland.

EDDIE CAN END IT FOR HIS ENGLAND SUCCESSOR

The Murrayfield game is therefore the big one of the weekend, with Wales’ struggles meaning that the main focus of South Africa’s visit to Cardiff on Saturday is on themselves. In other words, they will be focusing on performance and looking for the near perfect day at the office that, despite their impressive winning run, has eluded them in all but one game (Nelspruit against Argentina) in this international season.

Fji are much improved and beat Wales on the same day the Springboks beat Scotland, but should not be a match for Ireland, who have a point to prove after a poor autumn so far, at the AVIVA Stadium on Saturday. The All Blacks have never lost to Italy and should be too good for them in a game being played in Turin at the home stadium of the famous Juventus football stadium.

The England team that is under so much pressure after a run of consecutive defeats gets a chance to arrest that slide in the other Sunday game. They are saying England coach Steve Borthwick is safe for now, but if Japan coach Eddie Jones inflicts the seemingly impossible on his former right hand man at England it will be goodbye to the former England lock.
That shouldn’t happen, but England do need to win with style, and by a considerable margin, if the final Twickenham game of the Autumn Series is to be any kind of consolation or salve for what has gone before.

PUMAS HAVE A CHANCE AGAINST FRANCE

The weekend’s international action gets underway with the one game that may rival the one in Edinburgh, depending on Argentina’s mood - and for that matter France’s. The two teams clash in Paris late on Friday but it could be a game well worth waiting up for as the Pumas, because so many of their players play in France, tend to do quite well there.

They beat France twice at the 2007 World Cup, first in the opening game at Friday night’s venue and again in the Bronze Final, and while it was an understrength French squad that toured, they also won at home against France in July.

The Pumas were smarting at some referee/TMO calls after last week’s narrow defeat to Ireland in Dublin last Friday and will be eager to make up for that agonising narrow defeat against a top four nation - well Ireland are right now, let’s see how long that lasts - with a win over a France team that pipped New Zealand by one point last week.

The French will start as strong favourites but don’t bet your house on it - the Pumas just need to learn to back up after a good performance, which last week’s was even in defeat, and there will be some vindication for those who believe they should belong in rugby’s Big Five. For me it looks more likely we are evolving towards a Big Three - SA, New Zealand and France - but the Paris game can disprove that theory.

International fixtures this weekend

Friday

France v Argentina (22.10)

Saturday

Ireland v Fiji (17.10)

Wales v South Africa (19.40)

Italy v New Zealand (22.10)

Sunday

Scotland v Australia (15.40)

England v Japan (18.10)