Scotland, the underperforming Six Nations Team takes on Australia on Saturday at Murrayfield, Edinburgh, Scotland. This Article looks at the match.

Scotland never seems to a threat these days, unless they play one of the traditionally weaker Test Nations, like Italy, Canada, Samoa or Fiji.

I do not see this game to be any different, Australia seems to have settled on a squad already with a view towards the next World Cup and seem to know exactly who should be in the match day 22.

I predict that the Wallabies will romp all over the Scotts… Ozzie by 23 PLUS.

Players to watch:

For Scotland: By the nature of his role – both as scrumhalf and captain – Chris Cusiter will be in the spotlight. It will also be worth watching how Rory Lamont, at fullback, and Sean Lamont, on the right wing, combine. They are likely to be tested by the educated boots of Matt Giteau and Adam Ashley-Cooper. Johnnie Beattie, Nathan Hines and Ross Ford are the key forwards.

For Australia: The combination of Quade Cooper and Matt Giteau, who last week shared the ‘first receiver’ duties, could be the biggest threat to the Scottish defensive lines. They are both very creative players and deceptive runners. The return of George Smith, the only change to the starting XV from last week’s draw against Ireland, will mean some spotlight is reserved for the openside flank.

Head to head: The first face-off you always look at is at flyhalf – in this case Phil Godman (Scotland) against Matt Giteau (Australia). But, by the nature of their interchanging roles, Giteau and inside centre Quade Cooper will ensure that Graeme Morrison and Godman will have to come to the game as a package. The Australian scrum has been impressive all year, which will ensure the showdown of the front rows – Moray Low, Ross Ford and Allan Jacobsen (Scotland) against Ben Alexander, Stephen Moore and Benn Robinson (Australia) – will be an interesting side show.

Recent encounters:
1997: Australia won 37-8, Edinburgh
1998: Australia 45-3, Sydney
1998: Australia 33-11, Brisbane
2000: Australia 30-9, Edinburgh
2003: Australia 33-16, Brisbane (World Cup)
2004: Australia 35-15, Melbourne
2004: Australia 34-13, Sydney
2004: Australia 31-14, Edinburgh
2004: Australia 31-17, Glasgow
2006: Australia 44-15, Edinburgh

Teams:

Scotland: 15 Rory Lamont, 14 Sean Lamont, 13 Alex Grove, 12 Graeme Morrison, 11 Simon Danielli, 10 Phil Godman, 9 Chris Cusiter (captain), 8 Johnnie Beattie, 7 John Barclay, 6 Alasdair Strokosch, 5 Alastair Kellock, 4 Nathan Hines, 3 Moray Low, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Allan Jacobsen.
Replacements: 16 Dougie Hall, 17 Kyle Traynor, 18 Jason White, 19 Richie Vernon, 20 Mike Blair, 21 Chris Paterson, 22 Nick De Luca.

Australia: 15 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 14 Peter Hynes, 13 Digby Ioane, 12 Quade Cooper, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 Will Genia, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 George Smith, 6 Rocky Elsom (captain), 5 Mark Chisholm, 4 James Horwill, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements: 16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Sekope Kepu, 18 Dean Mumm, 19 Richard Brown, 20 Luke Burgess, 21 Ryan Cross, 22 James O’Connor.

Date: Saturday, November 21
Venue: Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Kick-off: 17.15 (17.15 GMT; 04.15 AEST, November 22)
Expected weather: Heavy rain. High of 10°C and a low of 8°C
Referee: Romain Poite (France)
Assistant referees: Nigel Owens (Wales), Jérôme Garces (France)
TMO: Graham Hughes (England)