GREGOR Townsend has a 100 per cent record against Australia as Scotland’s head coach, having beaten them home and away in 2017, then defeated them again at BT Murrayfield last year.
However, as he prepares to face up to the Wallabies once more on Saturday in the first of four Tests in this year’s Autumn Nations Series, he is extremely wary of a team he believes has been battle-hardened by the Rugby Championship.
Dave Rennie’s team came third out of four in the annual fight for southern hemisphere supremacy, beating Argentina away and South Africa at home but losing their other four outings. In the end they finished a point ahead of the Pumas thanks to the losing bonus they picked up in an epic 39-37 defeat by the All Blacks, and although their other three losses were by far wider margins, Townsend believes they could bounce back all the stronger from those adverse experiences.
