EDINBURGH, Scotland (AP) — Australia’s bid for its first rugby Grand Slam in 40 years is over.
The Wallabies lost 27-13 to Scotland on Sunday to end their hopes of a sweep of victories in the season-closing tour of Britain and Ireland. They’d previously beaten beaten England and Wales, and will end the tour in Ireland next week.
Adding to Australia’s woes was the sight of Joseph Sua’ali’i, the team’s new star back, going off injured in the first half at Murrayfield after hurting his right arm tackling Scotland captain Sione Tuipulotu.
Tuipulotu, born in Australia, was one of four try-scorers for Scotland while Harry Potter — an 18th debutant in 2024 for the Wallabies and the target of pre-match puns because of his name — went over for a late consolation for the tourists.
The Scots ended their autumn campaign with three wins from four, having also beaten Fiji and Portugal. They were defeated 32-15 by world champion South Africa.
The current crop of Australians were looking to emulate the class of 1984, who won the end-of-year Grand Slam but fell short in the face some brilliant finishing from Scotland.
Tuipulotu was playing in front of his 77-year-old grandmother, Jaqueline, for the first time after she flew in from Melbourne for the occasion. He marked it by running onto a long lineout and bursting through two tackles to go over for a converted try and make it 7-3.
Giant winger Duhan van der Merwe scored Scotland's second try — his record 30th in 44 tests — and Josh Bayliss chargeed over down the right after a break by winger Darcy Graham to push the hosts into a 22-6 lead.
Scotland flyhalf Finn Russell then added a fourth try with the best of the game, finishing off a flowing sequence of passes by running onto Blair Kinghorn lay-off and diving over.
The England-born Potter marked his debut by running onto a kick over the top of Scotland's defense and grounding just before going out of touch.
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AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
The Associated Press
