Scotland vs Australia Preview & Prediction | 2026 Nations Championship | Round 5
by Trystan Pugh ·
Click here for today’s sports betting tips from our expert analysts!
Scotland and Australia both look to bounce back from Round 4 defeats when they meet at Murrayfield on Sunday.
Start date/time:
How to watch on TV: UK – ITV / USA – Not televised
How to watch online: UK – ITVX / USA – RugbyPass TV
Scotland team news: Kinghorn and Graham return, Rowe dropped
Squad: Blair Kinghorn; Kyle Steyn, Huw Jones, Sione Tuipulotu (capt), Darcy Graham; Finn Russell, Ben White; Rory Sutherland, Ewan Ashman, Zander Fagerson; Gregor Brown, Scott Cummings; Matt Fagerson, Rory Darge, Jack Dempsey
Replacements: Gregor Hiddleston, Pierre Schoeman, Will Hurd, Max Williamson, Josh Bayliss, Ollie Leatherbarrow, Jamie Dobie, Tom Jordan
Australia team news: Gordon and Valetini return, Suaalii moves to centre
Squad: Tom Wright; Max Jorgensen, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, Len Ikitau, Harry Potter; Carter Gordon, Ryan Lonergan; Angus Bell, Billy Pollard, Allan Alaalatoa; Josh Canham, Jeremy Williams; Rob Valetini, Fraser McReight, Harry Wilson (capt)
Replacements: Brandon Paenga-Amosa, Isaac Kailea, Taniela Tupou, Lachlan Shaw, Tom Hooper, Tate McDermott, Ben Donaldson, Filipo Daugunu
Who will win?
Open poll and resultsScotland vs Australia prediction
Scotland come into this one after a 43-21 defeat to New Zealand last weekend. Hooker Ewan Ashman scored a hat-trick of tries, but the hosts failed to score in the second half and had captain Sione Tuipulotu sin-binned, with the skipper admitting he was at fault in the aftermath.
Head coach Gregor Townsend has made two changes to the back three for this one, with Blair Kinghorn and Darcy Graham coming in.
Australia are coming off a 45-22 loss to England at Twickenham, and Les Kiss admitted afterwards that the Wallabies are just not transferring what they do in training into matches.
Carter Gordon returns at fly-half after a fractured fibula, with Rob Valetini and Harry Potter also coming into the side.
Both defences have been generous, with Scotland conceding 140 points and Australia 130 across the four rounds, so this has the makings of an open game. Scotland are favourites at home and we expect them to edge it, but the safer angle is the total, so we are backing over 62.5 points.
Scotland vs Australia tip: Over 62.5 total points
