Australia v Scotland, Summer Tests 2017 – match preview

Australia scouting report

• Bulky backs
  Michael Cheika has named a side that seems to value size and skill over pace and skill. Outside of the half backs, every member of the backline is 6ft plus with an average weight of 100kg (just under 16 stone in old money).
• Pass masters
  Australia throw a lot of passes. The ball will move move through multiple pairs of hands far more frequently than Scotland will typically be used to seeing. In their last Test the Australians averaged 2.3 passes for each attacking ruck. That compares to 1.4 passes for Italy (and 1.5 for Scotland) during the game in Singapore.
• Deadly distributors
  The key men for this additional distribution are Karmichael Hunt and Israel Folau. Folau in particular will be heavily involved in the game with the freedom to decide whether to attack the line himself or draw and pass.
• Scrum half struggles?
  Will Genia has been getting mixed reviews on his return to the Green and Gold last week. There have been a few comments that he was outplayed by his opposite number – one Mr. N. Matawalu. Genia will no doubt be delighted to be facing off against Niko’s apprentice this week. It’s all there for Ali Price – the pace; the try-scoring; the hair…
• Dogged discipline
  Considering how much time they spent defending (only 43% possession against Fiji) Australian discipline was very good, conceding just 6 penalties. That potentially means little in the way of easy territory and scoring opportunities for Scotland and a lot of hard graft ahead.

Previous results
Recent meetings have been a mixed bag from a Scotland perspective but never anything less than close with an aggregate score across the last 5 games of 89 – 93:

W W L L L

Last meeting – Murrayfield (12th November 2016):

Scotland 22 – 23 Australia

13 players return from that game for Scotland – with 10 of the Australian 23 back on duty. The two sides’ last encounter in Australia was of course during a monsoon in Newcastle in 2012. John Barclay, Scott Higginbotham and Will Genia are the only starters this weekend who were also in the matchday XV for that game (Matt Scott, Ross Ford, Stephen Moore and Michael Hooper are the others to feature in both fixtures).

Officials:

Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant Referees: Matthew Carley (England), Brendon Pickerill (England)
TMO: Shane McDermott (New Zealand)

This will be Scotland’s fifth encounter with Mr. Barnes in the last five years. At an average of nearly 15 penalties a game the Scots have found themselves in the solicitor’s bad books on too many occasions. The dark blues have also chalked up 4 yellow cards in those matches – quite simply discipline will need to be better in Sydney or an already difficult task will become nigh on impossible.

Among the assistant referees will be Mr. Carley who filled the same role in the Scotland v Wales fixture during the Six Nations. He made at least 4 significant (and 100% accurate) interventions from the sidelines during that game. Hopefully Mr. Barnes encourages this kind of collaborative approach with his officiating team to help ensure as many correct decisions as possible are made.