Bernard Foley breaks Scottish hearts as Australia come through in thrilling quarterfinal

Action from the Australia-Scotland match

Australia’s fly-half Bernard Foley struck a last gasp penalty for Australia with just 30 seconds to help his side clip Scotland 35-34 in a nail-biter of a contest at Twickenham.Australia trailed by two with seven minutes to go after Mark Bennett’s 73rd minute try for the Scots.

There was drama and controversy at the end though, as South African referee Craig Joubert awarded Australia a penalty after deeming Scotland guilty for being offside. TV replays seemed to show though that it had been an error from the official’s side.

Foley made no mistake with his kick as Joubert raced off the pitch at the end to boos from the largely partisan Scotland crowd.The Wallabies scored five tries to Scotland’s three. Both their left and right wingers got on the scoreboard with tries, Drew Mitchell scoring a double and Adam Ashley-Cooper adding one.

The other two came from flanker Michael Hooper and Tevita Kuridrani. Foley wasn’t at his best like he was against England, but still did kick 10 points with three conversions.

Tries from Peter Horne, Tommy Seymour and Bennett had earlier put Scotland on the brink of a famous win as they looked to be heading for their first win over a southern hemisphere rugby nation.

The Wallabies started the contest the better as they scored their first try in the ninth minute itself after a missed tackle on Kuridrani led to Ashley-Cooper scoring in the right corner. Scotland though began to unsettle the Aussies as the match went on.

Captain Greig Laidlaw slotted his first penalty and Scotland go the try too from Horne after emerging from the base of a ruck seven metres out from the Aussie line. This was on 18 minutes.

Australia though responded with tries from Mitchell and Hooper. Mitchell got his in the left corner after a spell of consistent pressure while Hooper touched down after the forwards had driven towards the line from a lineout. Foley though wasn’t his usual sharp best and where Foley missed, Laidlaw didn’t, converting every opportunity that came his way.

But while Foley missed all three conversions, Laidlaw’s 11 points from the boot gave the Scots a slim but deserved 16-15 half-time lead.

Scotland began the second half on a bad note after Sean Maitland was sin-binned and the Aussies took immediate advantage as Mitchell grabbed his second try. A Foley penalty pushed it to 25-19 after 55 minutes but Scotland hit back with Finn Russell’s charge down that led to Seymour’s try.

A fifth Laidlaw penalty kept the Scots in contention at 32-27 down in the end though and with the entire 77,000 crowd urging them on, Scotland looked poised to cause a shock upset especially after Bennett’s try. But the late drama made sure it was Australia and not Scotland going through.