Scotland coach Gregor Townsend has hailed his side's character following the 24-19 win over Australia in Sydney on Saturday.
The Scots took a 17-12 lead into the interval but found themselves 19-17 down after Will Genia's try midway through the second half.
However, Hamish Watson capped off a memorable team try to to give his side a precious 24-19 lead with fifteen minutes to go. And it was a lead the Scots managed to preserve as they showed character to hold on.
And Townsend has paid tribute to this character.
“The last 15 minutes are fresh in the mind and they required huge effort because the Wallabies had a lot of possession,” Townsend told the Dundee Courier.
“You could see their line break when we were only five points up in our 22 with the crowd behind them. The effort to get back on the ball, and Alex Dunbar managing to get the turnover, it was fantastic.
“If you have to defend 10 to 15 minutes against a team as brilliant in attack as that, you need strong bonds, and that is what this team has.”
The resilient rearguard action at the end encouraged Townsend, who felt his team have learned how to close out games after narrow defeats to Australia on the previous two occasions the teams have met, including the 2015 World Cup quarter-final.
“A lot is about what happens when you have not got the ball,” Townsend added.
“They made the right decision to drive the line out and keep possession in that last minute but it was a great bit of play from the Australian defence to get a turnover, then it was great play from us to get it back.”
Meanwhile, captain John Barclay admitted the final minutes were equally nerve-wracking on the field.
“It was a bit tense at the end but the work that had gone in prior to that is what won the game,” Barclay said.
“They play a fast game, that is as fast as I can remember playing in. The fact that we managed to slow the ball down helped. The boys put everything out there, which is all you can ask.
“It will give us confidence, the fact is that we have come out the wrong side of a couple of these over the last few years. It is nice to close out one. The Six Nations we closed out a couple of really important results in the Wales and Ireland games, which shows we are getting better at closing out games.”
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