Scotland have now lost eight Test matches in a row after they were comfortably beaten 56-12 by Australia in the Accor Stadium in Sydney in a WXV Global Series clash on Saturday.
The hosts scored eight tries to two to back up their triumph at Hive Stadium three weeks ago, their pace and power too much for the visitors.
Scotland have now not won since April when they got the better of Wales in Cardiff in the Women’s Six Nations.
The match kicked off a quadruple header on the day and was followed by a men’s sevens match between Australia and Fiji, a women’s sevens match between Australia and New Zealand and then the Wallabies against the All Blacks in the second men’s Bledisloe Cup Test of 2026.
Scotland were dealt a blow in the lead up to their game when second-row Sarah Bonar was ruled out through illness, Hollie Cunningham coming in to start and Adelle Ferrie being added to the bench.
Despite that change, Scotland got off to an excellent start when winger Katie Buchanan scored her first international try on her first start for her country.
The try was a cracker too, a looping pass by stand-off Helen Nelson putting the Exeter Chief away and she did the rest with great footwork and pace. Nelson could not convert and it was 5-0 after five minutes.
Ten minutes later, Australia levelled things up when hooker Brittany Merlo scored a try. Scrum-half Samantha Wood converted and the hosts were 7-5 up.
By the 19th minute the Scots had conceded a handful of penalties and the hosts were on the front foot.
And it was no major surprise when the Wallaroos scored their second try in the 22nd minute, winger Maya Stewart going over after being put in space by a pass from back-row Piper Duck. Wood converted and it was 14-5.
In the 29th minute, Scotland centre Meryl Smith was yellow carded under the shadow of her own posts and, from the resultant scrum, nice hands put full-back Desiree Miller in. Wood converted and it was 21-5.
Before half-time versus 14 players, Australia scored two more tries both converted by Wood to effectively kill this game off.
The first was an excellent finish out wide by winger Amelia Whitaker and the second came from stand-off Waiaria Ellis and it was 35-5 at the break.
Scotland were back to 15 players by the time the second half kicked off, but the one-way traffic continued.
Miller scored her second try in the 43rd minute and when Wood converted it was 42-5.
Scotland did put in some good work through the phases to score their second try of the day soon after, captain Rachel Malcolm going over from short range. Nelson converted and it was 42-12.
With 15 minutes to go, a successful interception in her own half by Whitaker saw her set off with real pace and she ran 75 metres to go in under the posts for her second try of the game. Centre Faitala Moleka converted and it was 49-12.
With two minutes to go, sub Eva Donaldson was yellow carded and Australia’s 15 players put the icing on the cake.
Their final try scorer was replacement Eva Karpani and Moleka converted as it finished 56-12.
Scotland’s final WXV Global Series fixture take place against Australia on October 23 in Canberra.
Action from the Accor Stadium is pictured – thanks to Scottish Rugby
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