Australia fans had the last laugh as they silenced the Scots inside Twickenham on Sunday with a last-minute penalty to book their place in the Rugby World Cup semi-finals.
Scotland fans were bouncing around in delirium as their team seemed set to pull off a shock victory and become the only northern hemisphere side in the last four. But Bernard Foley's last-gasp kick meant the Aussie minority got the upper hand, despite the boos ringing round the stadium, and a 35-34 win.
Despite Australia scoring a try and dominating the opening 10 minutes, it was the Scots making all the noise in the stadium. And they had plenty to cheer as captain Greig Laidlaw's kicking and Peter Horne's try put Scotland 13-5 ahead, sending chants of “Scotland! Scotland! Scotland!” rolling round Twickenham again.
Foley missed a third conversion just before the break, giving the Scots a 16-15 lead to contemplate at half-time.
Scots fans booed when straight after the break, Sean Maitland was sin-binned and Drew Mitchell touched down again. But they were bouncing around with delight and broke out the bagpipes when Russell's charge-down led to Tommy Seymour crossing the line.
The heavens opened with 10 minutes to go, which seemed to fire up Scotland fans even more. And there was delirium in the 74th minute when Mark Bennett intercepted a James Slipper pass and charged in under the posts, a try converted to give Scotland a 34-32 lead.
But when Foley kicked his winning penalty, despite deafening boos, the Aussies had the final word.
Comments
SHARE