Highlights: Scotland 15-12 Australia
Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend hailed his team's defensive efforts after they edged past Australia in a Nations Championship "arm wrestle" at Murrayfield.
Off the back of being dismantled by New Zealand last weekend, in which they failed to score a second half point, the spotlight fell on Scotland's leaky defence.
But on a chilly and damp Edinburgh day where physicality was king, they delivered a much-needed win and showed they are capable of winning ugly.
Even so, Townsend's side didn't make it easy.
Max Jorgensen's late converted try gave the Wallabies hope, and with the clock in the red, the visitors broke from their own half.
Murrayfield held its breath, but Darcy Graham hauled Australia full-back Tom Wright into touch with a superb tackle.
"When we saw the rain half an hour before kick-off, you still hope you'll be able to move the ball," Townsend said.
"You could tell defences were coming off the line a bit quicker, knowing they could pressure the ball carrier.
"Both teams had to adjust and I thought we did that well. Defensively, that's one of the best performances I've seen in the last couple of years. Set after set we were putting them under pressure.
"We were on that edge of physicality but disciplined, hitting hard in the tackle, putting pressure on, listening to the referee, getting back onside. That makes it hard for the opposition to get into our 22m, which was a learning from last week.
"It was just constant effort. Today, we showed we can play another game, too."
Final whistle a blessing as Scotland edge dull Test against Australia
Nations Championship: Scotland hang on for scrappy win over Australia - as it happened
Leading 12-5 at half-time, there was one eye on whether Scotland could clinch a bonus-point victory that would have both boosted their points difference and helped their chances of climbing the northern hemisphere table with Japan to come on Saturday.
However, it soon became apparent that would not be forthcoming in a match that will not live long in the memory.
"It was about winning at all costs today," former Scotland prop Peter Wright said.
"We hoped we might get something quite end-to-end, 50 points to 48, loads of tries, but to come out on the right end of a war of attrition like that, it's a good feeling.
"When you're Scottish, winning's always good. We very rarely win in style at any sport. We just want to get victories under our belt.
"It was a bad game last week so getting some momentum going into the Japan game next week was really important.
"I thought the pack was outstanding."
In the absence of Sione Tuipulotu, who was ruled out of playing against the country of his birth with a knee injury, Rory Darge captained Scotland and led from the front with a player-of-the-match display.
The Glasgow Warriors flanker was immense in contact and at the breakdown, and also had the presence of mind to tell Finn Russell to kick at goal instead of going to the corner in the closing stages.
The resulting three points put Scotland 10 points in front and proved to be the winning score.
Townsend praised the performance his stand-in skipper, while also pointing to a wider effort defensively.
"You know the opposition will get phases of attack and we'll have to defend. Rory with his tackling, with his effort and his post-tackle presence really helps us.
"There were a lot of other players that stood up physically. The shots that were going in, the effort going in was outstanding."
And Darge himself was heartened by how Scotland responded to the All Blacks loss.
"We were disappointed after last week's performance," he said.
"A lot of that disappointment was with the physical side of the game and we did that really well.
"It was a bit of an arm wrestle, the conditions played their part. We know they want to throw the ball around, we like to play an attacking style but today was a battle of the defences."
'When you're Scottish, winning's always good. We very rarely win in style'
