Rugby League World Cup rolls on with Pool B action featuring Australia v Scotland, where the tournament favourites get a chance to blood a bunch of debutants, one of those being no less than Nathan Cleary. It could be a big score blowout based on first round results, so stand by for potentially a lot of points.
Our Group B Australia v Scotland, Match Centre has a preview, stats, team lists before the game and a summary of the match afterwards. More than you could ever need or want.
If you want more information on all the squads – follow this link here.
Australia 84 Scotland 0 Match Summary
Australia thrashed Scotland in a performance that will make the other big nations take notice of the dominance and professionalism.
It was ominous start for Scotland as the poor Scotland player catching the kick off put their foot on the touch in goal line, giving Australia the ball back instantly. They held on for that first set, scrambling well to a grubber that almost saw Nathan Cleary score on debut. The first five minutes was reasonably scrappy from both sides.
It took six minutes but Australia opened the scoring through Josh Addo-Carr., who scored his third for the cup It was a simple move to the left, with a floating cut out pass handing Nathan Clearly a try assist on debut. Cleary missed the conversion, but he was likely to have a few more chances.
Five minutes later Jack Wighton scored as Australia ran to the blind side on the last tackle and Nathan Cleary threw the final pass again as Wighton busted through a few Scots on his way to the line. The conversion made it 10-0. Scotland at this stage hadn’t been too bad, but they simply don’t have debutants like Nathan Cleary and friends.
Seemingly scoring in five minute blocks Angus Crichton scored another try for the tournament. Nathan Cleary set up the try with cross field kick to the corner where the Scotland winger Lachlan Walmsley spilled the ball sideways back into the in goal area. Cameron Munster had the first attempt to place the loose ball but missed, so it was Angus Crichton who was next on hand to score the try. Australia were going at a point a minute, and Cleary a hand in all three tries.
Australia went further ahead in the 21st minute as it was Campbell Graham scoring on debut. The try was set up through Nathan Cleary and Jack Wighton going to the right, the Scots had initially scrambled well as Graham got the ball but he jinked inside, broke through a couple of tackle attempts to score. Cleary kicked the conversion to make it 22-0.
A interesting moment of the game came in the 25th minute, as Scotland got their first tackle inside the Australian half for the game, such was the Kangaroos dominance.
Another try to a debutant came in the 28th minute, this time Nathan Cleary scoring instead of creating. Cleary picked the ball up from dummy half, and simply headed towards the posts and zipped through the Scotland defensive line to score under the posts. The Aussies were only just shy of a point of a minute still.
Josh Addo-Carr added a second try in the 31st minute as he showed his speed once again at the World Cup. After Scotland’s best attacking set of the first half ended in a error, the Aussies swooped on the ball and scooped it up to Addo-Carr, who was initially knocked over in a cover tackle attempt, but he sprung off his knees, jumped back onto his feet, then tore down the sideline to give the Scots windburn. Cleary kicked the sideline conversion too.
Jack Wighton scored his second not long after, this time the try was set up by Liam Martin who made a line break down the right side and threw the perfect pass back inside to the supporting Wighton. Cleary’s conversion made it 40-0 with four minutes to half time.
HALF TIME – AUSTRALIA 40 SCOTLAND 0
Australia wasted no time in the second half scoring with the first set. James Tedesco making a break through the middle before being tackled 20 metres out, and then scoring himself a tackle later after supporting well.
Next set, and Australia had cracked the 50 point mark as Ben Hunt joined the try scoring list. After making easy yards from the short kick off, Cameron Munster fired the perfect ball for a flying Ben Hunt who charged through the weakening Scottish defence. 45 minutes down and it was 52-0.
Josh Addo-Carr grabbed his third try of the match from a midfield scrum as the halves shifted it wide on the first play and Addo-Carr simply ran around the Scottish defence. Cleary’s 9th conversion of the night made it 58-0.
Despite the one-sided scoreline Scotland were still putting in. Their goal line defence for a few sets after Addo-Carr’s third try was immense. It was Scotland’s best period of the game as they even ventured into Australian territory in attack too.
The referee showed no mercy to Scotland when he sent Kane Linnett to the sin bin for holding back Cameron Munster in support near the try line, which was quite borderline and Munster was unlikely to score.
Moments later Campbell Graham had scored his second try of the game, with a try assist for Jack Wighton who offered up an offload under pressure to a waiting Graham.
Showing that despite the scoreline there was still plenty of passion, as a melee broke out with Australia in attack.
Despite heroically holding up Campbell Graham a play before, Australia scored anyway over the other side of the ground when Matt Burton slid in to score, with lead up play from Cameron Munster and Valentine Holmes, who had filled in for James Tedesco at fullback from half time, such was the ease of the game for Australia. Nathan Cleary converted for 68-0 and the Kangaroos were still just ahead of a point a minute.
Campbell Graham joined the hat trick club in the 73rd minute, with the try set up by Harry Grant with a grubber kick to the spare five metres of the blind side he had to work with, with Graham patiently hovering over the ball then scoring.
Isaah Yeo then joined the debutants scoring club, profiting from the crisp lead up play from Cameron Munster’s infield kick and Ben Hunt’s catch and offload to Yeo. Cleary’s conversion made it 80-0 with three minutes to go.
Despite leading by 80, Australia put on arguably their most exciting try of the match to finish the game. The try ended in Josh Addo-Carr’s fourth try of the match, but the moment of the play went to Matt Burton who somehow retrieved a ball going over the sideline and threw in between his legs to a waiting Addo-Carr. The Australian winger still had plenty to do, and his chipped and chased for himself, and despite giving the Scottish defender a head start, still managed to squeeze in front and score.
It was a scoreline not unexpected, but the professionalism of the performance sets them up nicely for the knockout football ahead.
PLAYER OF THE MATCH
3 Pts – Nathan Cleary
2 Pts – Josh Addo-Carr
1 Pts – Jack Wighton / Harry Grant
AUSTRALIA 84 SCOTLAND 0 SCORES
AUSTRALIA 84
Tries: Josh Addo-Carr 5′ Jack Wighton 10′ Angus Crichton 15′ Campbell Graham 21′ Nathan Cleary 28′ Josh Addo-Carr 31′ Jack Wighton 35′ James Tedesco 41′ Ben Hunt 43′ Josh Addo-Carr 49′ Campbell Graham 59′ Matt Burton 66′ Campbell Graham 73′ Isaah Yeo 76′ Josh Addo-Carr 79′
Goals: Nathan Cleary 12/15
SCOTLAND 0
POINTS OF INTEREST
- Always good to know that in Coventry there was a random Souths guy and child in the crowd.
- Those playing numbers for Australia has not grown on us, and they are still the stupidest idea ever.
- Australia may have been dominant on the scoreboard, but they were still a little rusty in attack as you could imagine. But heir defence was outstanding, giving Scotland absolutely nothing.
- An insight into the dominance at half time. 13 players for Australia had run for 50 metres or more (four over 100 metres), while Kane Linnett was Scotland’s only player at 50 metres.
- Australia certainly weren’t rusty in attack in the second, looking like a training run at times.
- The form of Josh Addo-Carr at this World Cup makes his omission from the NSW Origin side all the more of a mystery.
MATCH STATS
Australia v Scotland Teams
AUSTRALIA
1. James Tedesco (c)
9. Josh Addo-Carr
12. Matt Burton
10. Jack Wighton
19. Campbell Graham
7. Cameron Munster
14. Nathan Cleary
6. Reagan Campbell-Gillard
20. Harry Grant
13. Patrick Carrigan
17. Angus Crichton
21. Liam Martin
24. Isaah Yeo
3. Ben Hunt
15. Lindsay Collins
4. Valentine Holmes
5. Jake Trbojevic
SCOTLAND
22 Alex Walker
2 Matty Russell
4 Kieran Buchanan
3 Ben Hellewell
5 Lachlan Walmsley
19 Calum Gahan
6 Bailey Hayward
8 Logan Bayliss-Brow
9 Liam Hood
18 Jack Teanby
11 Euan Aitken
12 Kane Linnett
13 James Bell
14 Kyle Schneider
15 Luke Bain
24 Dale Ferguson
10 Sam Luckley
Australia v Scotland Pre Match Stats
- Scotland do have one draw in five matches against the tier one nations.
- Australia last lost to a non English European side side in 1978 (v France).
- Australia are now on a winning run of 13 games at World Cups.
Australia v Scotland Preview
All change for Australia as coach Mal Meninga brings in some fresh faces for the match against Scotland after their comfortable win over Fiji in their first game.
Six players will debut for Australia – Penrith trio Nathan Cleary, Isaah Yeo and Liam Martin with Lindsay Collins, Matt Burton and Campbell Graham. Matt Burton did play in the Prime Ministers team v PNG last month and coincidentally Campbell Graham is debuting against a side he may well have played for if not selected by Australia.
Australia can afford to make changes after already seeing off their hardest match of the group stage when they easily accounted for Fiji 42-8. The Kangaroos did enough in their first game, but with competition so tight to make the Australian side in the knockout you can’t see any complacency from the Aussies.
That’s a problem for Scotland, who were defeated by Italy in their first match. But looking back on the H2H stat from that game, Scotland were competitive with Italy in a lot of stats – Run Metres, Post Contact Metres, Tackles made and missed – but were well behind on line breaks. So one could imagine how a team that managed just two line breaks v Italy will fair against a solid Kangaroos defence that conceded just two tries against a Fiji side that had a lot more NRL talent than Scotland.
But back to Australia, they should have way too much, and even our winning margin of 62 looks a bit thin.
This could well be an important moment in Australian rugby league as perhaps this is when loyalty of long term Kangaroos players makes way for form.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Nathan Cleary is an obvious player to watch as he makes his Australian debut. But he is no ordinary debutant having led Penrith to consecutive titles. Cleary has a chance to nail down the starting halfback position after Daly Cherry-Evans failed to impress in the Australians first game v Fiji. He has some of his Panthers chums playing alongside which will help as well. And can’t wait to see Cleary’s kicking game combined with the speed of Josh Addo-Carr.
Angus Crichton was very good in game one, and also good for the Prime Minister’s XIII, so is taking well to life in international football. He could well fill his boots with a bag of tries v Scotland.
Campbell Graham has been rewarded for his uber-consistency for the Rabbitohs, becoming one of the finest defensive centres in the game. He makes his debut here, but on the wing. Interestingly he would have been picked by Scotland if not selected by Australia.
THINGS TO LOOK FORWARD TO
- A few special Matt Burton bombs.
- At least one long-range try form Josh Addo-Carr.
- A Patrick Carrigan masterclass up the middle.
- Who will get man of the match. They have been pretty random for some of the games so far.
PREDICTION
Australia 66 Scotland 4
