A controversial last-gasp penalty by Bernard Foley earned Australia a 35-34 victory at Twickenham on Sunday that broke Scottish hearts and sent the Wallabies into a World Cup semi-final against Argentina.
Scotland had been on the verge of a stunning upset with 79 minutes on the clock after an epic quarter-final but South African referee Craig Joubert awarded Australia a penalty for offside, despite the ball appearing to come off a Wallaby shirt.
Amid a cacophony of boos, flyhalf Foley kept his composure to split the posts and ensure the World Cup would have four southern hemisphere semi-finalists for the first time.
New Zealand and South Africa will meet in the other semi-final, both at Twickenham next weekend.
“They go to the TMO for everything else. It was such a big decision, why didn’t they go to the TMO for that?” Scotland captain Greig Laidlaw said after the game, describing himself as “lost for words”.
“It’s the toughest defeat I’ve ever had to take,” added the scrumhalf, who kicked 19 points.
Ever-calm Australia coach Michael Cheika, asked about the incident, said: “It’s a penalty and that’s the way it works. You’ve still got to kick it.”
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.
Australia were totally dominant for the first 10 minutes and were rewarded with an Adam Ashley-Cooper try.
It looked ominous for Scotland but they roared back with a Laidlaw penalty and try by Peter Horne when the Wallaby defence momentarily froze at a ruck.
Australia then turned to their forwards for a 10-phase assault that opened the door for Drew Mitchell to get their second try.
Australia’s scrum, highly praised for how it dealt with England, found the Scottish version a tougher proposition and Laidlaw landed another penalty after a collapse.
Again Australia hit back, opting for a lineout instead of a shot at goal and validating the decision by driving flanker Michael Hooper over.
Foley missed all three conversions though to allow Scotland to change round with an unlikely 16-15 lead.
The Wallabies had never won a World Cup match having trailed at the break but took only three minutes to regain the lead after Scotland wing Sean Maitland was yellow carded for a deliberate knock-on.
