Dave Rennie feared the worst after Blair Kinghorn struck the ball towards the posts.
“There was a helluva lot of noise in the crowd and I thought it was over. There was either a lot of Aussies or a lot of drunk Scotsmen in the stands,” Rennie said.
Indeed, Kinghorn’s 80th minute penalty was struck wide left at Murrayfield, allowing Rennie’s Wallabies to escape with a desperately needed 16-15 win over Scotland that will catapult them from ninth to sixth when the next world rankings are released.
Watch every match of the Wallabies, All Blacks and Springboks spring tours on the home of rugby, Stan Sport. All matches streaming ad-free, live and on demand
Scotland lock dodges a bullet
Australia fought back from a 15-6 deficit to snap a three-game losing streak against Gregor Townsend’s Scots.
“We managed to hang on. We got ourselves into a little bit of a hole after halftime but we showed lot of character and fought hard for each other,” coach Rennie said.
Scotland scored two tries to Australia’s one – via the unlikely James Slipper – but Bernard Foley produced enough points from his right boot to get the job done.
READ MORE: Red carded All Black lock’s tour under threat
READ MORE: Spent Kiwi staggers off after ‘phenomenal’ ton
READ MORE: Huge upset as icon’s horse claims Victoria Derby
Kinghorn wins epic foot race
“We’ve worked really hard. It’s pleasing to get the tour off with a win but we’ve got a lot more in us. We have to be a lot more clinical when we’re down their end,” Rennie said.
The next stop on the five match spring tour is a daunting assignment against world No.2 France.
“I’m proud of the effort because at 15-6 we’d given up a soft try straight after halftime but we fought our way back in and put our nose in front,” Rennie said.
“We can be a lot better. We had a lot of possession inside their 22 we didn’t convert and we knew Scotland were very good post-tackle and got their hand on the ball so we know we have to better against France…
“It was pretty tough to watch that last kick when I heard the crowd going off.
It was a tough game – it could have gone either way. It gives us a little bit of confidence.”
All Blacks legend Andrew Mehrtens summed it up well.
“Not a great performance but it’s a great one to come through like that with a bit of character,” Mehrtens said on Stan Sport.
“When the Wallabies came off they were embracing, high fiving and jubilant like it it’d been a World Cup playoff match. They were under no illusions, they were looking down the barrel.”
For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here
