Scotland defence coach Matt Taylor says Australia’s backline is the best attacking force in the world, as he prepares to shut it down this weekend.
Former Reds assistant Taylor was full of praise for Australia’s attack, after a Scotland effort that fell just five points short of the All Blacks last weekend.
Kurtley Beale hasn’t faced Scotland since the 2015 World Cup and Taylor admitted he added an extra dimension to the prospect of defending the Wallabies, but the fullback won’t be their only threat.
“All of their backs are very dangerous and arguably maybe the best backline in the world from an attacking point of view,” he said.
“They've got a really good exciting backline from an attacking point of view.
“With Kerevi and Kuridrani, they've got the two big guys that can batter it up and with (Bernard) Foley and Beale acting as two receivers they can bring some real width to their game.”g
Taylor said the Wallabies employed Beale in a clever way, switching him from the midfield to fullback.
“He adds a lot more width to their game and I think they they use him in a real smart way, ” he said.
“He might be 15 might be on his back but they'll put him in at 12, they'll use his passing ability, so I think they use him really well.
“I think it's just added to their attack and just individually, he's brilliant.”
Scotland captain John Barclay was quick to shut down talk that it was a depleted Australia side that Scotland bested in June, hitting back at criticism of their final 2017 opponents.
“They were in the World Cup final, a couple of years before and they're playing against the best team in the world every few weeks, it's not as though they're playing against pub teams,” he said.
“ I just disagree with people saying they were on a bit of a decline.
“I think they've always been one of the best teams and maybe just the nature of the beast with media and social media is that being one of the best teams in the world and with rugby being such a sport, they're always going to be under pressure from the media.”
Australia takes on Scotland on Saturday November 25, kicking off at 2:30pm local, Sunday 1:30am AEDT, LIVE on beIN Sports and SBS Viceland.
