Scotland had not won a game against Australia since 1982 but two penalties from Phil Godman and a Chris Paterson drop goal - plus a heroic defensive display ended the losing streak.
Scrum half Chris Cusiter and lock forward Alistair Kellock shared the skipper's duties after the historic victory.
When Chris was forced from the field midway through the first half of his side's 9-8 victory at Murrayfield, Glasgow team-mate Al took over the skipper's role. Rory Lawson came on with a message from coach Andy Robinson for Al. “You’re captain” was all it said.
And the lock helped Scotland complete the job after one of the greatest rearguard wins in recent Test history.
Warriors skipper Al had no idea he would be taking over the captaincy if Chris left the field.
"I was told when Chris went off," he said. "There's senior players throughout the whole team, leaders throughout the whole team. It's a big honour."
Head coach Andy Robinson praised Al's half-time team-talk for helping inspire the result.
Revealing what was said, Al added: "We spoke at half-time about getting our ball carriers in the game.
"We also spoke about the fact that the passion has to be right up there.
"We had a great crowd in but we can't expect them to lift us; we have to lift them first and foremost with the display we put on.
"Although at times we didn't play fantastic rugby, we gave absolutely everything."
Al admitted he thought the game had gone when Matt Giteau stepped up to convert Ryan Cross' try in stoppage-time.
"I went behind the posts and, to be honest, I thought he'd kick it.
"It probably made it even better that he didn't. It was a great feeling."
Al also paid tribute to the 44,762 inside Murrayfield.
"The period when we were defending on our own line, the noise was absolutely fantastic," he said.
"I've played at Murrayfield when it's busy like that and it's fantastic."
Reflecting on the wider significance of the result against a country ranked third in the world, Al rated it alongside the 2006 Calcutta Cup win against England.
He added: "It's a great result for us; it's been 27 years since we beat them and that's huge.
"You think about the fantastic players who have gone in between that period without beating Australia.
"I'm not putting our 22 on a pedestal just because we won that game against them, but it's fantastic. It was a very, very good Australian side."
Chris had to be replaced after suffering a head knock.
The scrum-half said: "I was watching the second half and cheered on the boys.
"It was just outstanding; the effort and the urgency in defence was unbelievable and the passion that everyone showed. I was so proud watching it, wishing I was out there. It obviously got very dramatic at the end but I think we deserved to win."
Al knows the importance of ensuring the win is not a one-off ahead of next Saturday's final Autumn international against Argentina.
"We'll let it settle down; we'll look at it again," he said.
"We'll aim to improve on the things we need to improve on. We'll look at Argentina as soon as we come in. Again, it'll be a different task and we'll be organised for it."
Glasgow's Johnnie Beattie put in another stirring performance - he told the Herald: “Everyone’s just buzzing. It was a great thing to be part of. I can remember coming here to watch Scotland play England, not last time but the time before when I was on the cusp of breaking into the national squad, but didn’t really feel a part of it.
“The feeling it gave me just watching Scotland win a game like that against a big rugby nation and the night we had after it, it was great to give the Scottish rugby public something like that.
“It’s partly down to Glasgow and Edinburgh being where they are in the league, the belief that’s been developed.
“That’s the first time I’ve been at Murrayfield with a crowd like that at your back. My dad can remember coming to watch when there were 100,000 people and all the schoolboys sitting round the ground. I’ve never had that experience and that was my first time today with 42,000 cheering you on and it was amazing.
“People need to see us win to draw people back to rugby, getting them to watch, to play and get enjoyment out of it. If we can provide that like we did today then that’s our job done.”