Scotland team to play Australia: Why Gregor Townsend has kept the faith

Speaking after the 43-21 defeat by the All Blacks, the head coach had warned that “no-one is undroppable” as he made clear that the level of performance fell below the standards set by the group.

As it turns out, Townsend has selected the same pack to face the Wallabies and made just two changes to the backline, with Blair Kinghorn and Darcy Graham coming in to replace Kyle Rowe and Jamie Dobie at full-back and left wing, respectively.

He has also opted for a six-two split of forwards and backs on the bench, opening the door for Ollie Leatherbarrow to make his Scotland debut. The Macclesfield-born Newcastle Red Bulls back-rower qualifies through his Perthshire grandmother.

The loss to New Zealand saw Scotland drop from second to fourth in the Nations Championship Northern Hemisphere standings and they need a win at Murrayfield on Sunday to reinvigorate their campaign and keep alive their slim hopes of making the final.

‘We believe we can take on anyone’

While Townsend has been frank about his team’s shortcomings against New Zealand, he believes the players deserve another chance. He also claimed Scotland could be a match for any opponent on their day.

“There's disappointment,” said the coach. “It's not a positive emotion, but it's actually a positive sign that they're really disappointed that they didn't beat New Zealand, or didn't push New Zealand close enough.

“We know a lot of how the outcome of that game was under our control. That's what we need to focus on. Just perform better. If we perform close to our best, we believe we can take on any team in the world. We didn't do that on the weekend.”

A show of faith in the pack

Townsend added: “I think after a defeat, every player knows that there may be changes. Certain players will certainly know they didn't play as well as they can.

“They know that these opportunities to play for Scotland can come and go if you're not playing well. The majority of the squad do get to go again this week.”

Scotland had kept in touch with New Zealand during the first half at Murrayfield and went in at the break 24-21 down. But they failed to score a point in the second half.

The Scots struggled in the scrum and Townsend expects another tough test at the set-piece on Sunday but he’s stuck by his pack, with Rory Sutherland again preferred to Pierre Schoeman as starting loosehead prop.

“I thought New Zealand scrummed excellently,” said Townsend. “When you're getting penalised and the opposition are choosing to go scrum against you it narrows the focus this week of making sure we deliver a better scrum performance right throughout the 80 minutes.

“Australia have got an aggressive scrum too. They've obviously got strong front rows and guys coming off the bench that can be aggressive so it'll be a big test for us once more.”

Wallabies ‘highly motivated’ after England defeat

The Wallabies are also hurting after being soundly beaten by England at Twickenham last weekend and Townsend expects them to be highly motivated.

“I think they’ll have a similar mindset to ourselves, they’ll want to be physical, they want to start fast, they’ll want to show a better picture of who they are.

“They’ve got some quality players right throughout their team. We have heard their comments after the England game about not firing and needing to have more possession. That’s a challenge for us but also an opportunity for our defence to get the ball open.

“I think they’ll be physical, ambitious and they’ll be a highly motivated team to go up against.”

Scotland team for Murrayfield Nations Championship clash

Scotland v Australia, Nations Championship, Murrayfield, Sunday, 3.10pm

Scotland: 15 Blair Kinghorn; 14 Kyle Steyn, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sione Tuipulotu (capt),11 Darcy Graham; 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben White; 1 Rory Sutherland, 2 Ewan Ashman, 3 Zander Fagerson, 4 Gregor Brown, 5 Scott Cummings, 6 Matt Fagerson, 7 Rory Darge, 8 Jack Dempsey. Replacements: 16 Gregor Hiddleston, 17 Pierre Schoeman, 18 Will Hurd, 19 Max Williamson, 20 Josh Bayliss, 21 Ollie Leatherbarrow, 22 Jamie Dobie, 23 Tom Jordan.