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Wallabies trounce Scots
25/11/2006 19:13 - (SA)
Edinburgh - Australia rounded off their European tour on a high by hammering Scotland 44-15 at Murrayfield on Saturday.
The Wallabies had to bounce back from an early 10-point deficit. But by the end, inspired by a man-of-the-match display from flyhalf Stephen Larkham, they had produced by far the most convincing performance of their four matches in Europe.
There were two tries for Brumbies wing Mark Gerrard with Larkham and fullback Chris Latham also touching down.
Simon Webster and Sean Lamont both claimed tries for Scotland but the home side, who had been unbeaten at home this year, never really threatened after the Australians had cancelled out their early lead.
The atrocious weather that had been forecast for the Scottish capital failed to materialise, sparing the Wallabies a repeat of the trial by wind and rain they had endured en route to a 21-6 defeat by Ireland in Dublin last weekend.
Near-ideal conditions however did not prevent the tourists' back-line from making a complete hash of the first up-and-under launched at them by the Scots' Australian-born flyhalf, Dan Parks.
Scots unable to retain advantage
A Scottish hand was first to gather a ball that should never have been allowed to bounce and Parks was on hand to feed Simon Webster on the left touchline.
From there, the Edinburgh wing swerved inside at sufficient pace to send Lote Tuqiri, Mortlock and Larkham all slithering to the turf as they tried to match his change of direction and check his progress towards the line.
Chris Paterson duly added a conversion to the long-range penalty he had slotted over to give the Scots a ten-point lead and real hope of ending their 24-year wait for a victory over their guests.
The touchdown was Webster's last contribution before he was forced to retire injured, making way for Hugo Southwell to come on at fullback with Paterson switching to the wing.
The Scots however were unable to retain their advantage for more than ten minutes.
Prop Gavin Kerr's high tackle on Giteau allowed Mortlock to put Australia's first points on the board before a period of sustained pressure - which had begun with the Scots penalised for collapsing a scrum - ended with Larkham brushing Southwell aside to claim his 24th try for his country, just to the right of the posts.
Two more Mortlock penalties allowed the Australians to extend their lead to 16-10 and it took some last-ditch defending from the Scots to keep the deficit at that level at the break.
Scotland restarted gamely but it was only five minutes into the second half game when Latham's class effectively put the game beyond their reach.
A trademark weaving run carried the fullback deep inside the Scots' 20m line before he was put down.
Well-deserved try
Giteau stepped in to spread the ball wide to Ricky Elsom and the flanker was able to present Gerrard with a clear path to the corner.
Five minutes later, Larkham repeated the trick, sidestepping Phil Godmann and Parks with ease before presenting with a second try on a platter.
Scotland reduced the deficit almost immediately with Sean Lamont touching down after Tuqiri, who was winning his 50th cap for Australia, slipped embarrassingly as he prepared to cut out a crossfield punt from Parks.
Briefly it appeared as the Scots might set up an interesting finale but a breakaway by Matt Giteau put paid to that. The Australian scrum got to within two yards of the posts before offloading for prop Stephen Moore to touch down.
Latham claimed a well-deserved try in the final minute and Mortlock capped a flawless kicking display with his fourth conversion of the afternoon.
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Rugby
