EXPECT drama. That's the prediction from Michael Cheika, the Wallaby coach, ahead of the clash with Scotland in the early hours of tomorrow morning. Much of Scotland will still be asleep when the match is played, but he is sure the early risers and night owls are in for a treat.
The main reason is recent history. Over the last decade, the teams have faced each other five times and the biggest win was by six points – Australia in 2013. Scotland won by three in 2012 and the other three were all singe-point results, one going to the Scots but the two most recent to the Cheika's Wallabies, including that heartbreaker in the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
"That is all part of the theatre," Cheika said. "I know it is easy to say in retrospect but it is almost like you know it is going to be that kind of game. Even if you go further back, the last half-dozen games, it has been like that. We have got two matches against them this year [tomorrow morning and again in November] so I think it is becoming a good rivalry and I am looking forward to it."
He has take the opposite approach to selection from Gregor Townsend, his opposite number, opting for continuity. He had to make one change with wing Henry Speight tweaking a hamstring, allowing him to give a debut to Eto Nabuli, the Queensland Reds wing who, he said, had been impressing him in training. Apart from that, it is a case of "steady as you go".
After all they seem to have some sort of hex over Scotland since Cheika took over, and if anybody needed reminding that in both the wins over the last two years, it was Bernard "Iceman" Foley who kicked the winning points, the Wallabies decided to rub it in by presenting him with an ice sculpture of himself.
"The World Cup was an interesting game for us," Foley reflected. "I thought we were dominant but were not able to show that on the scoreboard. Credit to Scotland, they were always fighting and were always in the game right through to the 80th minute. We were probably lucky to get that penalty but I thought we were the more dominant side throughout the contest.
"If you flip that to last year's game, then Scotland dominated in a number of areas and were probably unlucky not to win that.
"Scotland come here with a side that is really good at the set piece and understand how they want to play. The other thing with Scotland is that they chance their hand with their running game and their passing. A guy like Finn Russell, he is a really good creator. He is a dangerous player, a world-class fly half.
"Scotland are a creative side, they always like to have tricky moves to test our defence. That is exactly what we have prepared for."
That said, by the time the mid-afternoon Sydney sun had got to it, ice version of Foley was definitely melting in the heat. Scots will be hoping that is an omen.
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