Gregor Townsend, the Scotland head coach, has warned his players that they will have to step up a gear from their impressive performance against New Zealand on Saturday if they are to have a hope of beating Australia in the last of their autumn internationals at BT Murrayfield this weekend. The Scots’ 22-17 loss to the All Blacks was their narrowest margin of defeat by the reigning world champions for more than 27 years. However, several players suffered injuries and are doubtful for the Australia game. Causing most concern is Luke Hamilton, who hurt his ankle on his Test debut, but Alex Dunbar (head knock) and Hamish Watson (back problem) also went off while others have knocks and bruises. Townsend suggested that training in the…

Source: The Times November 20, 2017 00:56 UTC