Scotland boss Gregor Townsend convinced victory over Australia will provide much-needed boost ahead of 2025 Six Nations campaign

Gregor Townsend believes it is crucial for Scotland to beat Australia at Murrayfield tomorrow to boost confidence heading into next year’s Six Nations.

The Scots will face a rejuvenated Wallabies team, who have defeated England and Wales in successive weeks in the past fortnight.

Townsend’s men, meanwhile, have recorded wins against Fiji and Portugal but lost to world champions South Africa in a fragmented campaign so far.

That follows on from a poor Six Nations earlier this year, in which they won just two matches, before a summer tour that saw them face minnows such as the US, Canada, Chile and Uruguay.

Townsend admitted last week that a successful autumn campaign now hinges on victory over the Aussies in the series finale. Scotland’s head coach has stressed the importance of ending the year on a high – and delivering a much-needed confidence boost ahead of the Six Nations starting in February.

“If we win it will give us a huge boost going into the Six Nations because we are playing a quality side,” Townsend said.

Duhan van der Merwe scored in a comfortable win over Fiji to kick off the campaign

Australia head to Murrayfield in good form after recent wins over Wales and England

“I think it will be frustrating if we can’t deliver the performance we’ve been working towards, if we can’t at least match South Africa’s performance in the way we played that night.

‘So that’s what we’re building towards. We train for a reason. We train to improve. We train to find a way to win this weekend and that is the goal for us. For us as coaches and players it is the last game of the year.

“We know it will be a sell-out crowd and we are playing against a team that is in good form but also plays good rugby.

‘We see it as a big challenge for us, but one we are really looking forward to. We want to end the year as strong as possible.’

Townsend has welcomed back all his top players after fielding a largely second-string team in the defeat to Portugal last weekend. He insisted that Tom Jordan could not have done more to justify selection, opting instead for Blair Kinghorn’s greater experience at full-back.

He said: “Tom has been excellent for us and really couldn’t have done more. But Blair has played a lot more and he gets that opportunity because of the way he has played for us and for Toulouse.

“It’s now Blair’s jersey that he earned earlier. He has to deliver what he is capable of and we are looking forward to that on Sunday.

“For him to be selected at full-back ahead of Thomas Ramos shows what Toulouse’s coaches think of Blair and what he must have done in training to have that confidence in him.

Matt Fagerson will earn his 50th cap for Scotland when he takes to the field this weekend

‘He is very consistent in the way he plays. They’re playing a game that probably plays to Blair’s strengths as well.”

Elsewhere, Matt Fagerson wins his 50th cap in Scotland’s back row at number 8, with former captain Jamie Ritchie also returning to the team.

Against an Australian side that has found new life under Joe Schmidt, Townsend expects it to be a free-flowing and entertaining affair between two teams who are at their best when they are on the front foot.

He added: “Australia will take a lot of confidence from beating England and Wales.

“We expect it to be an open match, but we know we will have to give our best performances to achieve the desired result.”