The Wallaroos's hopes of reaching the women's Rugby World Cup quarterfinals remain alive after they scrapped their way to a tense 14-12 victory over Scotland in their second pool match.
The Australians were on shaky ground on Saturday at Whangārei, only hitting the lead in the 73rd minute after reserve hooker Ashley Marsters dragged Scottish defenders over the goal line for a try.
Fullback Lori Cramer then converted to give the Wallaroos a 14-12 advantage.
But the Wallaroos faced a nervous final five minutes when Marsters was sent off for a high tackle.
Marsters was replaced by starting hooker Adiana Talakai, but she was also sent off for a high shot, with the offence escalated to a red card after she had already had a yellow card in the first half.
The Scots kept the ball in play before the Wallaroos were able to force a penalty at the breakdown in the 83rd minute to secure the win.
Having opened their campaign with a 41-17 defeat against defending champion New Zealand, the Wallaroos desperately needed the victory over the 10th-ranked Scots.
Unlike their match against the Black Ferns — where they raced to a 17-0 lead before being overhauled — the Wallaroos struggled to find tries in the first half.
They were unable to take advantage of the efforts of barnstorming number eight Grace Hamilton and hardworking props Eva Karpani and Liz Patu.
With a strong wind at their backs, the Wallaroos finally got across the line in the 59th minute when teenage winger Bienne Terita scored her third try of the tournament after a build-up of 12 phases.
The converted try closed the gap to 12-7 after Scotland had opened the scoring through Lana Skeldon's try in the ninth minute.
Scotland was also awarded a penalty try in the 26th minute with Talakai yellow-carded for illegally trying to collapse a maul after repeated team infringements.
Down 12-0 at half-time, the Wallaroos had to dig deep but with coach Jay Tregonning using his bench they wore down the steely Scots' defence.
The Wallaroos face Wales in their final pool match next Saturday in Whangārei.
AAP/ABC
