London // It took the worst side in the Six Nations to fight the sort of rearguard action the northern hemisphere had hoped for all weekend.
Wales, France and Ireland had succumbed to South Africa, New Zealand and Argentina, and it was left to the Six Nations wooden spoon holders to push Australia to the very limit.
Scotland played with intelligence, vigour and more precision, but it was Australia’s five tries to Scotland’s three that eventually saw the Wallabies home 35-34.
And if it wasn’t for referee Craig Joubert, who ran off the pitch immediately after the game, they might have secured their most famous victory here since they beat England in 1983.
In a game that saw the television match official aid both sides throughout, the game hung in the balance in the final minute with Scotland leading 34-32, having led 16-15 at the break.
A poor Scottish lineout resulted in the ball being knocked forward in to the hands of Scottish replacement Jon Welsh, but replays suggested the ball came off Wallaby substitute Nick Phipps.
Joubert did not go upstairs, and the South African handed Bernard Foley the chance to take Australia in to the semi-final against Argentina back here on Sunday.
The Waratahs’ pivot had missed three kicks at goal in the first half, but having won the Super 15 final with the last kick of the game in 2014 this was just another day at the office.
“It’s a pretty upset dressing room,” Scotland captain Greig Laidlaw said. “We were one kick away from being in the semi-final and we arguably should have been.”
Coach Vern Cotter had elected to use two open-side flankers in Blair Cowan and John Hardie and the loss of Wallaby breakaway David Pocock to injury was keenly felt as Adam Ashley-Cooper, Foley and Tevita Kuridrani all coughed up possession in their own half during the first 40 minutes.
Michael Hooper was a fair deputy, however, and he returned from his one match ban to take up Pocock’s position at the base of the Wallaby driving maul to score just before half-time.
Scotland moved the ball around continually to change the point of attack and through Laidlaw, who kicked 19 points, they orchestrated one-on-ones that the Wallabies struggled to deal with.
Australia had conceded only two tries in the tournament and it was Scotland’s opportunism that saw them cross the whitewash three times.
Australian prop Scott Sio had a poor match and with lock Rob Simmonds they left a huge gap at a breakdown in front of their tryline that Peter Horne simply darted through in the 18th minute. In the second half wing Tommy Seymour profited from a charge down by fly-half Finn Russell, while centre Mark Bennett set up a grandstand finish with his intercept try.
But it was Australia’s ability to rack up the phases that turned what pressure they exerted in to points.
Ashley-Cooper’s opening try came from Australia pulling in the Scottish defence, and when Mitchell crossed in the 30th minute he rounded off his side’s 16th phase.
Mitchell’s second try after the break also came from weight of numbers when Scottish wing Sean Maitland was in the sin bin, and Kuridrani applied the gloss to the hard work of his forwards in the 64th minute.
Australia were roundly jeered by a large proportion of the 77,110 crowd after the match, but coach Michael Cheika is the type of man who treats those two imposters, defeat and victory, equally and felt his side deserved the win.
“You’ve got to live with the ones you get and the ones you don’t,” he said when asked about Joubert’s decision. “It is what it is and you have to deal with it.
“You saw a guy walk through the middle to score a try and we had a charge down and an intercept. If that’s an escape I don’t mind.”
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