‘I can’t criticise any of it’: Mal Meninga hails Australia display after Scotland win

The reigning champions thrashed Scotland 84-0 in Coventry

Australia head coach Mal Meninga saw his side thrash Scotland 84-0 (Mike Egerton/PA) (PA Wire)

Australia coach Mal Meninga was beaming with pride after his team kicked off the second round of matches in the 2021 World Cup with a merciless 84-0 rout of Scotland in Coventry.

Fresh from an opening 42-8 win over Fiji, the Kangaroos went up a gear against their outclassed opponents, running in 15 tries without reply, four of them from winger Josh Addo-Carr.

“We knew had some improvement in us, particularly around our executions and we excelled tonight,” Meninga said. “I’m very happy with the performance. It’s early yet so we’re not going to get carried away but I can’t criticise any of it. I thought we were very good.

“We came with a clear plan and we stuck to it. Our ball control in those conditions was fantastic.

“The boys are working very hard for each other and they kept it going for the 80 minutes, that’s what pleases me, our attitude and mindset is really good.”

Half-back Nathan Cleary pressed his claims for a starting role ahead of rival Daly Cherry-Evans with a 28-point haul from a try and 12 goals on debut but Meninga remained tight-lipped on his plans for the rest of the tournament.

“It’s different opposition,” Meninga said. “We’re being patient with that. Nathan feels part of the team now. He’s in there now, talking and joking, he certainly had a great game tonight.”

Addo-Carr was named man of the match after posting the second hat-trick of the tournament before rounding off a sensational performance with a dazzling fourth try just before the end, but he preferred to talk about the team.

“I thought it was a great team performance,” Addo-Carr said. “The most pleasing thing was we kept them to zero.

“We wanted to play the Australian way and I think we did. We were tough, resilient, ruthless.”

Scotland coach Nathan Graham admitted his largely part-time team had been outclassed.

“We were playing against the best players in the world,” he said. “I’d say 75 per cent of our players are part-time and to step up to this standard is a massive, massive ask.

“I thought we competed at times but fitness-level, skill-wise and the monotonous way they play, if you take half a play off or you make an error, you’re punished straight away and that’s what happened tonight.”

Graham says forward Sam Luckley and centre Bayley Liu pulled out of the team at lunchtime on the day of the match through illness but expects to have them back for the final group game against Fiji in Newcastle next weekend when he hopes his side can salvage some respect.

“We’ve always gone out with the intent to enjoy this tournament,” he said. “A lot of our players are working during the day, for those guys this is a massive thing to be involved in.

“Fiji is another big ask for us but we’ll do a body count – we’ve had some sickness in the camp – and hopefully we’ll be good to go next week.”

To compound the Bravehearts’ misery, winger Campbell Graham, who was set to play for them before the Kangaroos came calling, scored a hat-trick on his debut but Graham still hopes he will play for Scotland one day.

“We’ve always known the situation with Campbell,” Graham said. “If he was not going to be in the Australia squad, he was always going to be in ours.

“As soon as he got picked, I got on the blower and wished him well. That’s his country of birth but I know in the future he wants to represent his heritage. We’ll see how that goes.”