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Folau talks up Scotland challenge

Sydney - Israel Folau says Scotland are an improved side who will mount an 80 minute challenge to Australia when the teams meet on Saturday.

The Wallabies are coming off an impressive 32-8 victory over Wales, but the Australian fullback believes they will face a tough test from the Scots as the Wallabies chase a Grand Slam on this tour.

"The thing about Scotland that I’ve seen from the past or experienced myself is they’re a team that is always in there for the whole 80 minutes," the 27-year-old said.

"They’re a big side, they’re going to come at us physically and they’ve got some really great players in the team and as a unit they seem to have got better and better. There’ll be plenty of kicking – maybe not as much as against Wales – but Scotland have got some great kickers that can put the ball in good places.

"It’s going to be challenging, we’re expecting it to be very tough," Folau added.

"I wasn’t playing in the World Cup quarter-final last year which went to the wire, it came down to a decision made by the referee and had nothing to do with the players, but I can understand from a Scotland fans point of view that it was very disappointing. As players we’ve looked past that. This is a new game for us and we’re going into this game starting from zero. The guys have forgotten about what happened last year.

"We will not be surprised by how Scotland play, but we expect to know that we have been in a game."

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