Kiss hails defensive step-up as Wallabies fall to fourth straight Test defeat at Murrayfield

Australia’s four-match losing run continued at Murrayfield on Saturday as Scotland held on for a 15-12 victory, surviving a frantic Wallabies assault in the final seconds that was ended by a superb last-ditch tackle from wing Darcy Graham.

Max Jorgensen’s 79th-minute try and Ben Donaldson’s conversion had cut the deficit to three points, and the Wallabies immediately launched a sweeping counter from their own 22. Joseph-Aukuso Sua’ali’i broke the line and released Jorgensen down the right touchline, who offloaded inside to full-back Tom Wright — only for Graham to barrel Wright into touch and snuff out the danger with the game’s final play.

“Maybe we passed the ball a bit early, we could have been a little bit more incisive in that,” head coach Les Kiss said afterwards. “But that gives you a lot of confidence really, that we can move the ball like that and play like that. We know those moments are in us.”

The defeat extends Australia’s losing sequence to four Tests, following back-to-back Bledisloe Cup losses to New Zealand and a heavy defeat against England last week — a run in which they conceded 21 tries across those three games alone. Kiss, however, took clear encouragement from a markedly improved defensive display that restricted Scotland to just two tries, with wet conditions also a factor.

“We just set a tone in terms of what it meant to be a hunting defensive unit,” Kiss said. “You’ve got hungry eyes and hungry feet, ready to put the shoulder in where we needed to. I thought there was a real step up in that area, as well as defending their maul, which they’ve had a lot of joy with at times.”

Kiss was also frustrated by the disallowing of a Billy Pollard try for obstruction by Jeremy Williams, which he felt could have shifted the contest. “We also went at them with our own maul. Unfortunately it wasn’t allowed,” he said. “There was some good things in the Test match that we put up, for sure.”

The return of fly-half Carter Gordon, sidelined for two months with a broken fibula, was highlighted by Kiss as a significant positive, with Gordon’s combination alongside scrum-half Ryan Lonergan offering fresh promise in the backline.

“I thought ‘Lonners’ and him — a combination that’s very new — there was some nice stuff in that area,” Kiss said. “If we can iron out a couple of those little cohesion things we want in the backs with Carter coming back in, we’ll find some more joy.”

Australia now face Wales on a short turnaround, with Kiss insisting the squad’s intent remains firmly on ending the losing streak. “I’m really proud of the effort but we want to win Test matches, and that’s what we’re going to do going to Wales.”