Scotland v Australia: Autumn Nations Series rugby union – live

Welcome to Murrayfield for what could be a day of surprises if the unseasonably mild forecast for today’s game is anything to go by.

Scotland disembark their bus in the midst of an odd run of Autumn matches. Handy wins vs teams they should win handily against and a fitfully sparky but ultimately losing performance in the face of the Springboks could have made it tricky to determine where they are as a team. But this is Gregor Townsend's Scotland so it’s really more of the same for the team he’s built – they are a squad that plays occasional great games, rather than great players of the game.

This is why today, one off test it may be, is so important for the home side. They face an Australia team developing under Joe Schmidt to be a match for the Scots on the mercurial scale, while also collecting an impressive haul of wins on their end of season tour. A win today that keeps the newly rampaging green and gold at bay would reassert Scotland’s position as the best of what isn’t South Africa, New Zealand or France and unlike his opposite number, Townsend cannot point to a developing team and gameplan while “taking the learnings”. There is no excuse for losing today; he and the fans know it.

Foreboding aside, this should be a cracker. These are two teams that love a run, offload and plenty other forms of joy/fury generating play. Expect a surprising amount of fun for a Sunday in November.