Scotland were robbed of their greatest World Cup victory on Sunday night after a late blunder by referee Craig Joubert gifted Australia a 35-34 win at Twickenham.The South African official was labelled ‘a disgrace’ after he sprinted down the tunnel at the final whistle, refusing to shake hands with the players before having a plastic bottle thrown in his direction. Joubert awarded a 79th-minute penalty, which was kicked by Wallaby No 10 Bernard Foley, because he incorrectly judged replacement Scottish prop Jon Welsh to be offside when catching the ball. Big screen replays showed Australian replacement scrum-half Nick Phipps got the final touch before Welsh was penalised. Craig Joubert awards the final penalty of the game to Australia, allowing them to snatch a last-gasp win via Bernard Foley's boot Joubert was implored by Scotland captain Greig Laidlaw (9) to consult the Television Match Official to take a second look at the incident Stephen Moore of Australia celebrates with Michael Cheika, who had little sympathy for Scotland afterwards claiming it was the right call
Determining the grounding of the ball in-goal for a try or touchdown and/or whether players were in touch or touch in goal before groundingDetermining whether a kick at goal has been successfulConfirm if an infringement has occurred in the build-up to a try or prevention of a try (infringement must be within two phases of the try or touchdown)Considering acts of possible foul play The Australian later admitted that he intended to play the ball, rendering Joubert’s decision incorrect. Scottish former Lions captain Gavin Hastings slammed the official for ‘letting the game down’, describing the controversial end to Scotland’s campaign as ‘despicable’.‘It’s a tragedy for Scotland,’ said Hastings. ‘It’s a bit of a tragedy for rugby. If I see referee Craig Joubert again, I’m going to tell him how disgusted I am. It was disgraceful that he ran straight off the pitch at the end like that.‘The referee is not expected to make the right decision all the time. That’s what the TMO system is in place for.
This is the quarter-final of a World Cup. This is the highest end of our sport and they have to get these decisions right.’Phipps admitted: ‘I think everyone was trying to win the ball. We were all going for it.’Regulations mean the referee could not consult the Television Match Official, but he could have referred to his linesman for assistance if there was any doubt.Scotland skipper Greig Laidlaw remonstrated with Joubert to reconsider the game-swinging decision, before his arguments at full time fell on deaf ears as the official made a swift exit down the tunnel. Penalty came from a Scottish knock-on, but there was a question over whether an Australian then played it before it was collected Referee Joubert sprints off down the tunnel after blowing the final whistle in the Rugby World Cup quarter-final Joubert looked up at the screen, but was not allowed to consult his colleague for a penalty decision and it appeared he knew he had erred Scotland winger Sean Maitland was also given a yellow card earlier in the game for a deliberate knock-on and the Wallabies capitalised
Scotland were left devastated at the final whistle, having led going into the final minute of the quarter-final they looked set to win It was a devastating defeat for Scotland, who put up a terrific fight despite being underdogs against their southern hemisphere opponents Sean Maitland's yellow card in the second half helped turn a tremendous contest in Australia's favour, and was another TMO decision With just a minute remaining the ball was knocked forward via an Australian arm with Joubert perfectly positioned to view the incident Just seen the replay of the last penalty. Robbed!— jim hamilton (@jimhamilton4) October 18, 2015 If Craig Joubert is still running at the same speed, he'll have reached the Channel Tunnel by now... #sharpexit— Chris Foy (@FoyChris) October 18, 2015#AsOne— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) October 18, 2015You did us proud. https://t.co/B7rCIGIDSq— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) October 18, 2015 Waiting outside Twickenham for Joubert…
#/rjHqM0v2sd— Steve Lenthall (@steve_l15) October 18, 2015 @StuartWHOGG_15 you boys be proud mate, played awesome. Gutted for you guys. If anyone can understand it's the Welsh! Congrats buddy— Sam Warburton (@samwarburton_) October 18, 2015 Craig Joubert you are a disgrace and should never referee again!! How dare you sprint off the pitch after that decision!!! #RWC2015— Matt Dawson (@matt9dawson) October 18, 2015 Final #RWC2015 thought for the night - in a team of giants, Greig Laidlaw has been simply outstanding. #AsOne— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) October 18, 2015 That last 5 minutes was both everything that is great about Rugby and everything that is picky and irritating and frustrating about it too— Dara Ó Briain (@daraobriain) October 18, 2015 Phenomenal performance & effort from Scotland team. Put on a show for us vs Aus and throughout entire RWC15. A hell of a squad u have there!— Jonny Wilkinson (@JonnyWilkinson) October 18, 2015
You can to take our hopes but you'll never take our ability to edit Wikipedia! #/ZB9kdvuTAF— Lauren (@SoleroLady) October 18, 2015 The last call in the Scotland game was very arguable but it came from a lineout lost on the throw.— Brian Moore (@brianmoore666) October 18, 2015 ‘I didn’t get a chance to say anything because he was off that quick,’ said Laidlaw. ‘From where I was, I think Phipps jumped and, to me, it looked like it hit him and our player caught it.‘I thought there was an Aussie arm but we’re not the type of people to blame little things. If we had tightened up in other areas, we might not have been in that situation.’Australia head coach Michael Cheika had little sympathy for Scotland.He said: ‘You have to live with the ones you get and the ones you don’t. It is what it is and you just deal with it. Because of some things that have happened to me in the past, I’ve become quite neutral on the topic of referees. When you score five tries in a World Cup quarter-final, you expect to be somewhere near the winning end of the game.’Former players blasted the decision on social media, with Scottish lock Jim Hamilton tweeting: ‘Just seen the replay of the last penalty.
Retired England scrum-half Austin Healy also sided with Scotland, saying: ‘Never a penalty never totally robbed totally robbed #beproud Scotland’.Joubert also came under fire for several other decisions, including a late hit by Wallaby winger Drew Mitchell on Scotland full-back Stuart Hogg shortly before the last-minute penalty. South African official Joubert called a deliberate offside when replays seemed to indicate the ball had come off a Wallaby player Australia's Bernard Foley kicks the winning penalty in the dying seconds to crush Scottish hearts and leave a bitter taste in the mouth The Scotland players look shell-shocked at full-time following the devastating defeat at Twickenham by the slimmest of marginsOfficials failed to spot the incident, but — asked if he thought he was the victim of a late tackle — Hogg said: ‘I believe so. I ended up in the front row of the stands.‘It didn’t go my way so I can’t do anything about it now.’There was also a controversial yellow card for Sean Maitland in the 41st minute, after the Scotland winger was judged to have intentionally knocked the ball on while attempting an interception.