Old-fashioned Wallabies frustrate the naive Scots

STONES were heard crashing loudly in glasshouses when the Australian coach, Greg Smith condemned the mediocre quality of a Test in which the Wallabies ran out comfortable winners because they focused on plain old-fashioned set-piece rugby.

Smith took the French referee, Patrick Thomas, to task for allegedly destroying the momentum of both sides; yet Australia succeeded precisely because they destroyed the well-meaning if naive attempts of the Scots to develop continuity.

No doubt Smith was seeking a scapegoat on which to dump the strictly limited tactics of his streetwise team, which bore a strong stylistic resemblance to the England of the early Nineties.

Little wonder that the Scottish coach, Ritchie Dixon, declared the problems his players failed to solve - winning and keeping possession - were the same set by England every time they come to Murrayfield.

Smith may have had a point when he complained: "It's very difficult to present a marketable product if the referee keeps stopping play," after carefully congratulating Scotland on the spirit of enterprise shown by their ambitious backs.

Nevertheless, Mr Thomas, pedantic as he was, merely applied the laws, evenly distributing 28 penalties and several free kicks in response to many acts of indiscipline by both sides. The bleak truth is that the 1996 Wallabies stand light years behind their distinguished predecessors in terms of development, even though they do have accomplished players.

Australia's back-to-basics approach was dictated in part by an urgent need to develop a winning streak after three defeats in their previous eight Tests, and in part by the knowledge that they had the big forwards to make it work.

Scotland, outgunned in the line-out and under pressure in the scrums, were like a lively bird caught in wire mesh, twisting and turning with every scrap of possession in a vain endeavour to find open space.

The superbly inventive Townsend set up two tries and came close to springing the Australian trap on occasions, but his unique gifts were not so effective in midfield as they might have been at outside-half, where Craig Chalmers was no more than efficient.

"The game was not fast because the ball was never in play long, enough to get things going, reflected Townsend, who at 23 is his country's youngest captain for 46 years. "We had a poor first, half (falling behind 19-6) and at half-time we went into a huddle to sort things out. We felt we could still win, but we couldn't get close enough even with a couple of tries later on."

Given the amount of time the Scots spent on the back foot, their game cried out for a salvage expert capable of making the most of scrappy ball and setting the Wallabies unexpected posers.,Scotland could ill-afford the absence of the injured Wainwright, from the back row, where Peters and the new cap, Wallace, were unable to impose lasting authority after a promising start.

Australia, who have not lost to Scotland for 14 years, were admirably served by the pace and athleticism of their captain and lock, John Eales, who was invariably on hand to tighten up a drive down the flanks or provide a timely link with the midfield backs.

But even the dynamic outside-half, Knox, was clearly under orders not to take risks and to put in a generous amount of percentage kicking. The bold Burke, who kicked 19 points, needed a more colourful stage to show why he is the best fullback down under.

Still, the four tries, evenly shared, were worth the attention of a 51,000 crowd. Waugh's classic, close-range score was cleverly created by Eales, Harry and Finegan with a muscular ease that embarrassed the Scottish pack. Herbert's try on the left came 10 minutes from time, courtesy of a splendid miss-pass by Knox who noticed the Scots were bunched together in front of the posts.

Scotland were trailing 22-9 when a long miss-pass by Townsend sent Logan crashing over at the left corner flag. And in injury time, Townsend's deft chip kick brought Stanger a try on the right, though later the TV replay showed the Hawick wing never grounded the ball.

The Wallabies, who play Ireland and Wales within three weeks, could not have cared less.