Scotland captain Sione Tuipulotu is braced for a backlash from the "wounded" Wallabies when he goes up against his native Australia in the Nations Championship at Murrayfield on Sunday.
Scotland lost 43-21 at home to New Zealand in their November opener last week, while the Wallabies went down 45-22 to England at Twickenham.
Sunday's clash in Edinburgh could have special significance for the 29-year-old Tuipulotu, should he come up against childhood friend Isaac Kailea, who starts on the bench.
Kailea said this week he regards Tuipulotu as a cousin, given how close their families were, often playing rugby in the gardens of their Melbourne suburban homes.
"I am super proud of Isaac," Tuipulotu said. "I spent all my childhood with him and his family. We were all very close.
"The games could be pretty violent at times and often they would completely veer off away from rugby. Sometimes it wouldn't even be about rugby. There were times when there wasn't even a ball."
Glasgow centre Tuipulotu, who qualifies for Scotland through his grandmother, captained the Dark Blues to victory over the Wallabies in 2024 and scored the opening try in a British and Irish Lions win over Australia last year.
"If I'm honest, I think I will always have that little bit of fire bubbling away whenever I play against the Wallabies," he said.
"I've done it a few times now, both with Scotland and also with the Lions. But there's a bigger picture than just looking at me and my history with Australia.
"Our minds are firmly set on bouncing back after last week. That performance wasn't good enough. We know that and we want to put that right."
He added: "We know that Australia will also be a wounded team coming here after what happened against England at Twickenham.... It's similar to ourselves in terms of wanting to get back out there and give a better account of yourself."
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