Scotland beat Australia for the first time in more than four years on Saturday, winning 24-19 to avenge two consecutive narrow defeats, including a controversial World Cup exit. It also took them up to fourth in the world rankings.

Tries from Duncan Taylor, Finn Russell – who has been called up to the British & Irish Lions squad along with Allan Dell – and Hamish Watson were enough to see the Scots home in Sydney, with Russell adding the extras following Greig Tonks’s early penalty.

Israel Folau crossed over for two first-half tries, with Bernard Foley’s conversion making it 17-12 at the break as Australia recovered from 10-0 down. Will Genia scored their third midway through the second half but Scotland held on for the win.

It was their first win against the Wallabies since 2012 and ends a sequence of three straight defeats by Australia, including the 2015 World Cup quarter-final loss, which was decided by a last-minute Foley penalty contentiously awarded by Craig Joubert.

Gregor Townsend, the Scotland coach, said: “I’m really proud of the effort the players put it in. The last 15 minutes were fresh in our minds, so it required a lot of effort.”

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Scotland had been the first to settle, winning a penalty inside the first minute. Tonks, making his return to the side after two years out, stepped up and landed his first Test points from just inside the Wallabies’ half.

There was then nothing the home side could do when a poor pass from Genia was knocked straight into the hands of the Scotland centre Taylor for a simple run-in.

Russell converted but the Scots surrendered the initiative when a string of penalties went against them, the final one leading to a maul on their line. The threat of a Genia break sucked in the visiting defence and a long pass to Folau gave him an easy score and Foley landed the conversion.

Australia seemed determined to keep their opponents in the game, with a late tackle earning Foley a spell in the sin-bin and seconds later Genia took far too long over a clearance kick to let Russell charge it down, collect the ball and touch down for a try. The conversion restored Scotland’s 10-point lead.

The away side needed the gap as the Wallabies started to find space when they opened up. After the debutant Eto Nabuli on the wing had come within inches of crossing in the corner, the Scotland No8, Ryan Wilson, was sent to the sin-bin for slowing the ruck.

Again the resulting maul pulled in Scottish defenders. A cross-kick by Foley found Folau on the touchline to leap above Tonks, claim the ball and roll over the line. Foley missed the kick, however, and the gap was still five at the interval.

Soon after the break there was a moment of history when Ross Ford came off the bench for his 109th cap – equalling the Scotland record held by Chris Paterson – though he could do nothing to stem the string of penalties going against his side that were giving Australia a strong foothold.

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Wave after wave of attack came their way until eventually a ruck right on the Scotland line gave Genia the chance to reach out and ground the ball on the whitewash. With Foley converting, Australia had taken the lead for the first time as the match entered its final quarter.

Scotland quickly replied, though, as they forced their way into the home 22, where Lee Jones bounced over the defence to find Taylor on a support line and put Watson in for the score that Russell converted.

Australia did their best to claw it back with Folau, Karmichael Hunt and Tevita Kuridrani all within inches of scoring but somehow Scotland managed to find ways to stop them every time and they held on for the final whistle.

Townsend said: “You could see their line break when we were only five points up in our 22 with the crowd behind them. The effort to get back on the ball, and Alex Dunbar managing to get the turnover, it was fantastic. If you have to defend 10-15 minutes against a team as brilliant in attack as that you need strong bonds and that is what this team has.”

The captain, John Barclay, said the final minutes were nerve-racking. “It was a bit tense at the end but the work that had gone in prior to that is what won the game,” he said. “They play a fast game, that is as fast as I can remember playing in. The boys put everything out there, which is all you can ask.”

Michael Cheika, the Australia coach, was full of praise for Scotland. “We think they are a top team. We have had big contests in the past, they are a well-coached team and they have had some big results in the Six Nations. We knew what we were in for and got exactly what we expected.”

Japan 22-50 Ireland

Joe Schmidt’s youthful Ireland side continued their impressive form with a victory over Japan at the Ecopa Stadium in Shizuoka. Having trounced the US Eagles 55-19 in New Jersey last Saturday, Ireland have travelled to Tokyo to play two Tests against Japan, who they will face in Pool A at the 2019 World Cup.

Missing 11 frontline players on British and Irish Lions duty in New Zealand and with Test stalwarts such as Jamie Heaslip, Rob Kearney and Sean Cronin taking the summer off to recover from injuries, Schmidt is using this month’s tour to broaden his base of talent as Ireland build towards the next World Cup.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Ireland’s Dave Kilcoyne makes a break through Japan’s defensive line at the Shizuoka Stadium. Photograph: Atsushi Tomura/Getty Images

Ireland proved far too good for the home side and were cruising 31-3 at the break thanks to an early try from the outstanding Keith Earls, a brace from the flanker Dan Leavy on his first Test start, and a late effort from Jack Conan.

The one-way traffic continued in the second half as Conan, Garry Ringrose and Earls added further tries. The fly-half Paddy Jackson had a flawless day with the boot, adding 13 points, with Rory Scannell kicking a second-half conversion. Japan replied with second-half tries from the full-back Ryuji Noguchi, the wing Kenki Fukuoka and the replacement scrum-half Yutaka Nagare.

“We’re very happy with the way we started and Japan probably didn’t show how well they can play,” said Rhys Ruddock, the Ireland captain. “But they finished strongly and for next week we’ll have to be a lot better. We’ll have to tighten up our defence and play a bit better kicking game as well.”