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Scotland claim historic Wallabies scalp

Alex Grove and Nic de Luca celebrate as Matt Giteau hangs his head after his missed conversion.
Alex Grove and Nic de Luca celebrate as Matt Giteau hangs his head after his missed conversion.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Scotland claim first win over Australia in 27 years after 9-8 victory in Edinburgh
  • Wallabies kicker Matt Giteau misses last-gasp conversion after late try by Ryan Cross
  • New Zealand increase pressure on England rugby coach Martin Johnson with 19-6 victory
  • World champions South Africa end three-match losing streak with 32-10 win in Italy
RELATED TOPICS
  • Martin Johnson
  • New Zealand
  • South Africa
  • Italy
  • Australia
  • Scotland
  • Wales
  • Argentina
  • Rugby

(CNN) -- Scotland stunned the touring Wallabies by claiming a first win in 27 years against the Australians in Edinburgh on Saturday night.

Andy Robinson's team held on to win 9-8 as Matt Giteau missed a conversion attempt in time added on which would have given the visitors victory.

Two Phil Godman penalties and a Chris Paterson drop goal were enough to end the Scots' 16-match losing streak against the two-time world champions as former England boss Robinson celebrated his second successive win since taking charge.

Scotland led 9-3 despite being pinned back into their own half for most of the match before Ryan Cross scored a last-gasp try, but Giteau was unable to improve on several earlier misses.

"I've said to the team that is the most courageous performance I've ever been involved in," Robinson told reporters. "The effort that has been put in, the way the team got off the floor and defended -- and credit to Graham Steadman for the way he's put this defense together -- was incredible.

"The amount of ball that we gave Australia to play with throughout the game and the courage that the players had to get up and keep knocking them over.

"We needed a bit of luck, I thought the guys worked hard to establish that luck. If we can perform like that, with that same courage every time we go on the pitch, then we can grow a team."

New Zealand earlier increased the pressure on England coach Martin Johnson with a 19-6 win at Twickenham, while world champions South Africa ended a three-match losing run by beating Italy 32-10.

Former World Cup winning captain Johnson, widely criticized after the defeat by Australia and a disappointing win over Argentina, picked a physical side to combat the All Blacks but his team ultimately paid for a lack of attacking potency.

Nothing epitomized England's deficiencies more than when, with New Zealand having taken a 16-6 lead through Jimmy Cowan's 57th-minute try, star Jonny Wilkinson chose to attempt a drop-goal when the home side were in a prime position to hit back with a five-pointer.

Wilkinson missed that kick, and his opposite number Dan Carter landed his fourth penalty soon after to put the All Blacks out of reach.

New Zealand's playmaker had a disappointing match on his return from suspension after missing last weekend's win in Italy, and two uncharacteristic failed penalty attempts left the halftime score at 6-6.

Wilkinson extended his world-record points tally to 1,119 with a penalty after 15 minutes, while All Blacks fullback Mils Muliaina had a try ruled out by the video referee before Carter overtook Andrew Mehrtens as the Kiwis' overall record-holder with another kick seven minutes later.

Carter's third success put the tourists 9-6 ahead in the 46th minute, then scrumhalf Cowan crossed after slick work out wide by captain Richie McCaw and wing Sitiveni Sivivatu.

England briefly threatened to rally but showed little inspiration when it counted, and Carter's final penalty left him third on the overall points-scorers' list with 980 from 65 international appearances.

South Africa bounced back from last week's defeat in France and two reverses against English club sides Leicester and Saracens to notch an eighth successive victory in clashes with Italy.

The Springboks ran in four tries in Udine as Italy paid for an early yellow card to Simone Favaro as wing Bryan Habana crossed for a try after Morne Steyn hit the post with the penalty kick from in front of the posts.

Habana beat two men to set up center Jacque Fourie for the second try, but Craig Gower set up a score for Gonzalo Garcia and converted to reduce the deficit to 12-7 at halftime.

However, Habana was again involved as Fourie Du Preez scored South Africa's third try, and the scrumhalf set up Wynand Olivier from a late lineout to cap victory.

World Cup semifinalists Argentina were unable to bounce back from last week's defeat to England, losing 33-16 away to Wales as Shane Williams scored two tries for the home side.

Fly-half Stephen Jones also scored an opportunist try to finish with 17 points -- 13 of them in the first half as the Welsh led 13-3 at the break.

Center Martin Rodriguez scored all of Argentina's points through a try, three penalties and conversion.

Ireland defeated Fiji 41-6 in Dublin as center Keith Earls scored two of the home side's five tries and debutant fly-half Jonathan Sexton kicked 16 points.

Captain Brian O'Driscoll, Rob Kearney and Shane Horgan also crossed as Ireland built on a 13-3 halftime lead.

Meanwhile, the United States qualified for the 2011 Rugby World Cup with a 27-6 victory over Uruguay in Fort Lauderdale, having won the first leg 27-22 in Montevideo a week ago.

The U.S. will play in Pool C with two-time champions Australia, Ireland, Italy and another European team, while Uruguay can still qualify through further playoffs.