Given the amount of talent and firepower both teams have in their backline, sparks could fly when Scotland play Australia at Murrayfield tomorrow afternoon.
In the language of the boxing pages, styles create fights.
It is certainly not difficult to imagine a scenario in which these two teams deliver a classic.
In the blue corner, Scotland have Sione Tuipulotu, Huw Jones, Darcy Graham and Duhan van der Merwe.
In the green-and-gold corner, the Wallabies have their new superstar Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, Len Ikitau, Andrew Kellaway and wing wizard Harry Potter making his debut.
Whatever happens, it probably won’t be boring. Australia come into this match having scored thirteen tries (five against England, eight against Wales) in the last two weeks. They are red hot.
It is expected that this clash with Scotland could see both teams go all out and provide box-office entertainment as Gregor Townsend’s side look to end the year on a high.
Especially with the battle in midfield between Tuipulotu, Jones, Suaalii and Ikitau, Scotland head coach Townsend sees opportunities for sparks.
Scotland boss Gregor Townsend wants to end the autumn series with a win
Australia come to Murrayfield on the back of impressive wins over England and Wales
Australian Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii trains ahead of this weekend’s match at Murrayfield
But Townsend also made it clear that his team will not simply stand back and admire the talents of Suaalii, the rugby league convert who has taken Test rugby by storm since making his debut at Twickenham a fortnight ago.
Instead, the Scotland boss wants his team to focus as much as possible on Suaalii and put pressure on a player who is still only 21 years old and vastly inexperienced at the top level.
“When you look at those center combinations, you see players who have the ability to do more than one thing,” Townsend said. ‘Yes, that can be quite nice.
‘There has been a lot of talk around Suaalii. He will take a lot of confidence from his performance at Twickenham. He already looks world class. Ikitau too, he is a very good player.
‘Whether it’s direct like Sione and Ikitau can do, they also have offloads and creativity. And then the 13s (Jones and Suaalii) are running lines.
‘It is clear that Suaalii’s height and ability to release provide an extra point of difference to his game. I’m sure the centers will look for the ball as much as possible.
Huw Jones celebrates being on the scoresheet against Fiji together with Sione Tuipulotu
“There’s not a lot of tape to watch with Suaalii, but obviously we watched him as much as we could. Can we put pressure on him?
‘Because he’s only had 80 minutes, plus 20 minutes of defending (from the bench against Wales), at Test level in the association. We saw his attacking threats more often in the match against England. We must of course respect that, realizing that there may be times when he pauses or has a discharge.
“We have to do our best to close that down, but also make sure that in the next phase you are ready to go again if he has gotten in behind you.”
Townsend has named a permanent team for the final match of the Autumn Series, with former captain Jamie Ritchie coming into the back row in the absence of Jack Dempsey.
There were some suggestions that Townsend should drop Van der Merwe, a point made by former Scotland captain Andy Nicol in Mail Sport earlier this week.
Particularly given the impact of Tom Jordan dropping to the bench, there was a sense that a shake-up to the back three may be on the way.
But Townsend insisted it had never really crossed his mind as Van der Merwe, Graham and Blair Kinghorn lined up together for the first time since last year’s World Cup.
“They (the back three) played a lot of games together,” Townsend said. “Darcy has missed a lot of rugby through injury but he has recovered so well in recent weeks, especially at Murrayfield.
The Scots followed up the victory over Fiji with a defeat against world champions South Africa
“So because all three of them are together, they know each other well. They played together in Edinburgh. Blair has been in great form coming into this season and campaign.
“He had to play on the wing because we had injuries before the game against South Africa, but it’s good to see him back at wing-back and to see Darcy back. They have earned the right to play.
“With Jamie he was involved in both of our wins in the Six Nations this year. He has had to deal with no longer being captain as well as increased competition in the back row.
“But I think he played some of his best rugby at the end of the season at Edinburgh. He showed his superpowers: he was in the top two of winning jackal turnovers in the URC.
“He’s also very good in the air and that came to the fore for Edinburgh and it’s come to the fore more and more in Test rugby when they’ve changed these laws.
‘Over the past two to three weeks, the dogfight has become more chaotic and more important than in the run-up to this tournament.
“So we see Jamie in both areas, as well as his skills and experience that can help those around him.”
Scotland have won three of their last four games against the Wallabies, but this will be the first time they have faced Joe Schmidt since he took charge.
Johnny Matthews impressed as his side rebelled against Portugal last weekend
Schmidt caused Scotland no end of pain during his time as Ireland head coach and Townsend sees some similarities with a possession-based approach that aims to starve teams of the ball.
When asked about that and the fact that Scotland may have to defend for long periods without the ball, Townsend replied: “Yes, and we need to do something about that.
“We have to find ways to get the ball back. The best way is to get it back directly and through the tackle, but also to be strong enough on defense that they kick it back to you.
“You see clear signs of how Australia play, which is very similar to Ireland (played under Schmidt). An easier way to keep hold of the ball is to play tight from scrum half. They have some willing ball carriers who can do that.
“There will be times when they go wide and that gives us more chances. We must look for opportunities at every stage.
‘Possession of the ball can lead to penalties, can sometimes lead to frustration if you don’t have the ball. If you defend poorly disciplined, it becomes a setup ball that you have to defend.
‘Or three points and the opposition is kicked over. That strategy worked very well for Ireland. We have to break up the game.
Townsend has praised Joe Schmidt’s impact since taking over as Australia coach
“I’m really confident in our defense if we do that. It’s just a different challenge for the defense this week.
‘You could see how they were developing even before those two wins against England and Wales. They had a very good win against Argentina, away from home.
‘They played a lot, especially against the All Blacks, and Joe Schmidt’s coaching came through well.
‘A possession-based game, which evolves to bring the centers into play as much as possible. And in the last two weeks they have scored a lot of points, which shows their attacking threat.
“It’s very similar to how he built a successful period with Leinster and Ireland in particular. There is a lot of depth in Australian rugby. Now that they have the confidence, you see the quality coming out even more.’