Scotland captain questions last-minute penalty call in World Cup loss

The Wallabies will play Argentina, which thumped Ireland 43-20 hours earlier at Cardiff.

Australia have survived a mighty challenge from Scotland to secure a spot in the Rugby World Cup semi-finals in a nail-biting and seesawing affair in Twickenham on Sunday.

Joubert’s judgement and rapid departure from the field provoked a furious response from former players of all nationalities.

The battle between the winners of the Rugby Championship and the side who finished last in the Six Nations after losing every game looked a mismatch on paper but there was nothing between them in what developed into a monumental see-saw battle. The ball went over the posts and the Scots were gutted.

Foley aced the pressure penalty from 29m to clinch this test but his inability to convert three tries left the Wallabies scrabbling to stay ahead of the tenacious Scots.

However, an intercept and try by Mark Bennett was converted by Craig Laidlaw gave Scotland a narrow lead before Foley slotted a penalty in the 80th minute to claim the game. Despite the rain and the nerves, he nailed it.

Local media on Monday morning said despite the controversial penalty, which was awarded off a fumbled ball at the back of a line-out had also touched an Australian player, Australia earned the right to play an in-form Argentina in the Rugby World Cup semi-final next week.

Another Laidlaw penalty put six between them before the Wallabies pack got one over on their counterparts, mauling over from close range with Michael Hooper credited with the score.

It was Greig Laidlaw’s accurate goal kicking which kept Scotland in the game, as he kicked 19 of his team’s points, as Australia’s Bernard Foley struggled with his kicks.

“We knew this was a World Cup quarter-final and everyone’s going to lift and everyone does that”. “It’s a very upset dressing room”.

Television replays showed the ball had been played by Wallaby scrum-half Nick Phipps in between the two Scotland touches meaning a scrum rather than a penalty would have been the correct call. It was disgraceful that he ran straight off the pitch at the end like that.

Scotland felt they had been hard done by at the start of the second half when the wing Sean Maitland was sent to the sin-bin for a deliberate knock-on near his own 22.

But there was still life in the Scots as Finn Russell charged down Foley’s clearance down the blindside before offloading to Tommy Seymour to bring the scores to within a point as Laidlaw failed with the extras.

The final spot went to Australia, which knocked off Scotland 35-34 in a match that easily could be considered the best of the tournament.

While it was being labelled a late escape, Cheika said his side’s five tries meant they were always likely to be on the positive side of the ledger.

Cheika also admitted to Australia having maybe played into Scottish hands by sticking to their favoured running rugby, saying: “We didn’t go to a kicking game, maybe that was a bit naive from me”.

“I think a few of the other sides have been unlucky, unfortunate with injuries and things, but we’ll make sure that if we get another crack at it…”