Scotland 9 Australia 8

Reporting events that many of us have already witnessed presents interesting challenges to both writers and editors, all the more so if the event proves both astonishing and historic - as yesterday's 9-8 win by the Scotland's rugby team over Australia undoubtedly was.

A crowd of some 45,000 had the good fortune to savour Scotland’s first win over the Wallabies in 27 years (following 16 consecutive defeats); and tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, would have been equally transfixed, courtesy of live coverage both on TV and radio.

On occasions like this, a blow-by-blow match report and quotes from a couple of the key participants risks being disappointing deja vu. This at least is the time for stunning pics, illuminating statistics, and expert analysis. Perhaps too a graphic showing the game’s key move.

Maybe even the input of a sports psychologist, a strength and conditioning coach and a medic, since high-performance sport these days is as much about behind-the-scenes as it is about what takes place on the field of play.

But let’s not get too greedy. It’s Sunday, the day after a late kick-off (5.15pm) the night before. Monday is still some way off, and, with it, the promise of lots more background material.

It’s Sunday, and allmediascotland’s local newsagent had run out of copies of the Scottish Sunday Mirror; at a guess, freelancer, David Kelso, will have provided a match report. Kelso’s name also appears in the Sunday Mail, Scottish Sunday Express and the Scottish News of the World, the last of these offering not just a match report but player ratings.

The People, meanwhile, carries a brief match report, without a by-line, while the Daily Star of Scotland - Sunday displays a picture of the victorious Scots on its back page and a match report and quotes from....David Kelso.

It is a different David - this time, Barnes - behind the match report in the Scottish Mail on Sunday, which also publishes ‘match facts’. Writes Barnes: “This is a result that was unimaginable just a few short months ago and Robinson deserves all the praise that will come his way.”

Elsewhere, former Scotland captain and British and Irish Lion, David Sole, provides the expert analysis to accompany Alan Shaw's match report and quotes in the Sunday Post.

Says Sole: “Awesome, brilliant, astounding. It’s hard to find an appropriate adjective to describe Scotland’s performance against the Wallabies yesterday.”

The Sunday Telegraph and The Observer each pitch in with decent-enough coverage, albeit subsidiary to England’s defeat by the All Blacks.

Says Michael Aylwin, in his match report for The Observer: “A scoreline to make some people weep this may be, but it is a result that had Murrayfield rocking in a way it surely never has since, oh, probably 1982, when Scotland last beat Australia. After 16 fruitless attempts to replicate that triumph this was about as heroic a win as Scotland have ever pulled off, and that is saying something.”

The Observer carries a large pic, on the front page of its broadsheet-size sports supplement, of Scotland player, Ross Ford, driving through an Aussie tackle.

The Sunday Telegraph provides a match report by Brendan Gallagher and match data.

The Independent on Sunday, meanwhile, has a match report by Simon Turnbull, who writes: “When Andy Robinson first took charge of an international side at the home of Scottish rugby, in February 2006, he felt the full force of a supreme defensive effort that had his England team on the wrong end of an 18-12 upset. It could have been the blueprint for the monumental rearguard performance that took Scotland’s head coach of five months to an overture victory of huge historical significance.”

And so too to the three newspapers that regularly give extensive coverage to Scotland rugby matches: the Sunday Times Scotland, Scotland on Sunday and the Sunday Herald.

The Sunday Herald’s match report, by Alasdair Reid, begins: “Stunning, simply stunning. Mark down the date, for this was a performance and a result to write large in the history books. Scotland played with passion, pride and a kind of courage that defies any technical analysis. Statistically, they were barely in the game, but the scoreboard did not lie at the end.” The paper’s front page carries a pic.

Reid’s efforts are supplemented by analysis from former Scotland stand-off, Craig Chalmers, and a quotes piece from Lewis Stuart.

Chips in Chalmers: “In terms of commitment and passion that was as good a performance as I have seen from a Scotland side. Without any shadow of doubt it was the best defensive display I have seen from the boys in blue and in the end I can say that Scotland won because they deserved to.”

The Sunday Times Scotland and SoS also put pics of the famous result on their front page. In the former’s sports section, there are contributions from Mark Palmer (match report and quotes), Colin Renton (player ratings) and former Scotland winger, Kenny Logan (analysis). There are match facts too.

Pens Palmer: “A victory for the ages, a triumph of endurance and an outlandish, landmark success for Andy Robinson, a mere two steps into his journey as coach of this Scotland side.”

Says Logan: “I believe that this was the best defensive display I have ever seen from a Scottish rugby team.”

At Scotland on Sunday, Iain Morrison, another former international, delivers the match report, while Tom English offers the quotes, wrapped in a lengthy column. Martin Hannan provides player ratings, while Richard Bath also crafts quotes into a second column.

Says Morrison: “Teams, and especially Scotland, don’t become world-class overnight but the first and easiest step to take is becoming cussed, sticky and damned difficult to beat at home and that is exactly what the men in blue were yesterday.”

Adds English: “Greatness in rugby takes many forms. A player who can slalom through defences and score tries sent straight from the Gods, well, that’s one manifestation of it, for sure. But there is another. There is the player who lands a shuddering hit on an opponent, gets up and then chops down another, the guy who won’t stop doing what needs to be done despite the suffocating pressure of his surroundings, despite his back breaking, his legs aching and his heart feeling like it’s going to explode through his chest.  The great player ignores it all and goes again. This is what we saw at Murrayfield yesterday.”

In total, almost four pages in SoS’s compact-size sports supplement.

Let’s see what tomorrow brings.....