In a tumultuous week when their unity and culture was questioned, the Wallabies answered with a grinding victory full of guts and character at Murrayfield.
Australia rolled with the punches on and off the boggy Edinburgh field, and dug deep to down Scotland 21-15 for a third straight win heading into their 2013 finale against Wales.
Israel Folau and Quade Cooper provided the match-winning touches in the clutch moments but the big story was how the strife-torn tourists kept their line intact despite completing almost twice as many tackles.
On top of missing their incumbent three-quarter line and suffering through the drama of coach Ewen McKenzie’s Dublin drinking sanctions, the Wallabies also had to overcome an poor goalkicking display by Christian Leali’ifano (four from nine) and a second-half yellow card to Rob Simmons.
The Scots drew to within three points when Simmons was sent to the sin bin with half an hour left but Greig Laidlaw’s fifth penalty goal provided the last points they were to score.
Skipper Ben Mowen, who capped an outstanding game by forcing the ruck penalty which sealed the result, said the fallout following last week’s Dublin drinking session had brought the squad together.
“We wanted a strong win to show this group is well and truly united and I thought we got that tonight,” Mowen said.
“We needed a good reaction from the guys and that was a great feeling at the end to grind out that win.
“It was a huge result for us.”
Contrary to reports of rifts in the ranks, standard-bearer Stephen Moore said the squad stayed tight through the pain and disappointment of six players being stood down.
“It’s been a tough week no doubt. It’s always tough when you have to deal with issues off the field,” said the hooker, who was reluctant to comment on the cultural issues.
“That’s something we’re dealing with internally.
“It always is (a continuing process) with any team. It’s never sorted, it’s something you have to work on continually and everyone is doing that.
“The main thing is we won the game so obviously the guys looked beyond that, put it to one side and showed good character.”
The Wallabies, who conceded 12 tries in their first three games under McKenzie, have now gone two straight Tests without having their goal line breached.
“I think it says a lot about the way the boys have bought into our defensive systems and we’re starting to get that trust now in our line and that we can keep teams tryless,” Mowen said.
If we can marry that up with better decision making around the breakdown … I think we can be a very dangerous defensive side.”
McKenzie, who now has a 5-6 record, felt they were over-zealous in attacking the tackle area in the first half as referee Jaco Peyper whistled them off the park.
They will need to be more accurate against Six Nations champions Wales whose coach Warren Gatland has already started talking up confidence in their ability to end an eight-Test losing streak to Australia.
