‘That boy is pretty special’: Australia purr over one Scotland star and have plan for wingers

Darcy Graham takes the place of Jamie Dobie, who drops to the bench, on the wing while Blair Kinghorn is in at full-back with Kyle Rowe out of the squad completely. The selection from 9 to 15 in the home side combine for a total of 400 caps, all having played together regularly for their country in recent years.

That cohesion can prove to be a huge advantage for Gregor Townsend’s side and, despite knowing these players incredibly well, Wallabies head coach Les Kiss doesn’t believe it makes them any easier to prepare for. The former Queensland Reds boss picked out stand-off Finn Russell’s game in particular as being hard to anticipate.

“Speed chess” - Australia head coach anticipates fast paced game as both sides need to keep their wits about them

“When you've got Finn Russell, I don't think that's predictable at all,” said Kiss. “The boy is pretty special.”

Kiss also singled out scrum-half Ben White, who he coached at London Irish earlier in his career, as a player who can bring something crucial to the game. “I think Ben White's also been very important when they play well,” he continued.

“I worked with Ben at London Irish. I know the capacity he has as a good thinking player, he's a biggish type of nine who can do damage himself. That familiarity you talk about, both Edinburgh and Glasgow up in the top three [in the URC], the players are in pretty good form. They're on the front foot in terms of their confidence in that way.

“It's going to be tough. We're going to have to prepare for a number of scenarios which we have done this week.”

In terms of the areas where the Wallabies boss believe they can get at the Scots this weekend, Kiss added: “Every team's got some chinks, no one's perfect. What you're hoping for is areas of your game don't become a problem for you.

“They certainly know where theirs are, we've just got to try to exploit them, as they will with us. So there's certainly a bit of chess there but probably speed chess. Both teams like to play a bit of footy when they have the right platform, but you need the right platform too.”

Australia enter this Sunday’s fixture on the back of a bruising defeat themselves, having lost 45-22 to England at Twickenham last weekend. It means both sides face-off with a point to prove and aiming to bounce back from their previous disappointments.

“I think Scotland pose a different challenge to what England did in a massive way,” said Kiss. “The ball movement, whether you're on the front foot or not, is massive.

“They move the ball, they work to speed, and the three locks we have this time have a lot more speed across the ground in terms of loose play. That's not to say England didn't play with some breadth the other day, but we gave them too much of a gain line for sure, which allowed them to play on the front foot the way they did.

“The locks we picked this time with [Lachie] Shaw off the bench, he's a lively character and we've all seen what he can do. His movement in the line out, he's quick, he's up in the air, his movement across the park is very, very quick as well.

“So that speedier lock combination is what we were looking for. I think with the type of energy the Hoops [Tom Hooper] also brings to the game, that'll just make sure we keep that momentum going.

“They [Scotland] pushed them [New Zealand] for a while, didn’t they? The All Blacks are going well, you match them for a while and then they just light up, which they do often. They’ll be smarting a bit too, and we understand that it's Murrayfield and it's not going to be easy.”

The return of Graham to the Scotland team is sure to help boost the atmosphere from the home fans this Sunday if the Edinburgh winger can get the ball in hand and show off some of the magic footwork that epitomises his game. Looking to shut him down will be Max Jorgensen and Harry Potter on the wings for the visitors.

The latter spoke about the threat Graham, and Kyle Steyn, will pose and how they plan to deal with them. “Jorgo can mark Darcy Graham, I'll look after Kyle Steyn,” joked Potter. “Kyle Steyn's been playing really, really well for club and country, a really consistent player.

“I see he's vice-captaining this weekend. So, certainly a threat, and then Darcy Graham out of the team but back in now, he's quick, good footwork and certainly going to be a handful if we don't shut him down early. No doubt we'll be watching out for him.”

Wallabies winger Potter, who made his Australia debut at Murrayfield in 2024, is excited to return to the home of Scottish Rugby. The 28-year-old has some fond memories of that day two years ago despite the final score being 27-13 in Scotland’s favour.

He added: “I’ve certainly got great memories of Murrayfield despite the final score last time. Awesome stadium, the anthems, the bus in, everything about it.

“I'm sure all the Wallabies boys will be feeling that this weekend and hopefully that gives us a bit of an extra edge. I certainly enjoyed it last time two years ago.

“That was one of those performances where we just didn't quite get going. Things didn't click and despite it being close with 20 to go, they managed to get away with it.”

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