Match Facts

Scotland have won three of their last four matches against Australia (L1), although their solitary defeat in that run came in their most recent meeting (15-16 in October 2022); eight of the last nine Tests between Scotland and the Wallabies have been decided by margins of six points or fewer, including four by a single point.

Scotland have won six of their last seven Test matches (L1) with each of those victories coming by margins of 12+ points, however, they have conceded over 20 points in each of their last two games after conceding fewer than 20 in their previous six.

Scotland have won seven of their last nine Tests at Scottish Gas Murrayfield (L2), scoring 59 points in their most recent fixture (59-21 v Portugal), their highest tally in Edinburgh since a 60-14 win over Tonga in October 2021 – three of Scotland’s last six home wins have come despite trailing at half-time.

Australia have won each of their last two Test matches after losing three in a row previously – their most recent win came by 32 points (52-20 v Wales), their biggest against any European side since a 68-22 victory against Russia at the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

Gregor Townsend (Scotland) and Joe Schmidt (Australia) are set to face each other as head coaches for the fourth time in Test rugby and the first time since the 2019 Rugby World Cup when Schmidt was in charge of Ireland and oversaw a 27-3 victory – overall, Schmidt has won each of his three Tests against Townsend by an aggregate score of 77-24.

Scotland have the highest tackle success rate of any nation in men’s Tier 1 rugby in 2024 (90%) and rank joint-second for turnover-winning tackles per game this year (3.0), alongside Australia and England, and only behind Italy (3.2).

Scotland retained possession from 99% of their rucks against Portugal last weekend, the highest rate by any team in an Autumn Nations Series fixture this year, while Australia completed 72% of their rucks in under three seconds against Wales, also a series-high.

Among the 146 players to have attempted 50+ tackles for a men’s Tier 1 nation this year, Scotland’s Grant Gilchrist is the only one with a 100% success rate (64/64), while teammate Ewan Ashman has the joint-third highest rate (96.8%, also Dewi Lake), just behind Australia’s Carlo Tizzano, who has the second highest (98.7%).

Australia’s Tom Wright has gained 781 metres from his 100 carries for Australia in 2024, the most of any player for a men’s Tier 1 nation this year – Wright gained 243 metres against Wales last Sunday, the most by any player against a Tier 1 nation since Ireland’s Jordan Larmour v Italy in November 2018 (245).

James Slipper could win his 143rd cap for Australia in this match and move past Sergio Parisse has the fourth most capped player in men’s Test history, behind only Alun Wyn Jones (171), Sam Whitelock (153) and Richie McCaw (148); Scotland’s Matt Fagerson could win his 50th cap in this fixture.