Millions of Australians held their breath early this morning as the Wallabies waited until the dying moments of their match against Scotland to snatch victory.

The Wallabies played well below their best, but were saved by a last minute penalty.

The final score? 35 to 34.

Eden Richards reports.

TRANSCRIPT

They left it late but the Wallabies are through to the World Cup semi-finals.

A controversial 79th minute penalty conversion from Bernard Foley silenced the hostile Twickenham crowd and sealed the win.

In what truly was a great escape, milestone men Stephen Moore and Matt Giteau both celebrated their 100th test cap with a thrilling victory.

Stephen Moore, Wallabies Captain: “Scotland played really well, their fans and their people should be proud of the way they played, just the way I am. I’m proud of my boys we hung in there and played right to the last minute.”

Australia trailed throughout the first half and looked a shadow of the team that had progressed through the tournament undefeated.

A yellow card to Scotland winger Sean Maitland for a deliberate knock on proved the turning point.

Australia capitalised to jump to a 32-24 lead and looked set for a comfortable win, until Scotland’s Mark Bennett intercepted a James Slipper pass to score under the posts.

Australia’s big game experience proved too much.

Matt Giteau, Man of the match: “It’s not about justice, it’s just about playing what happens in the game, you can only play what’s called. Luckily for us we got a penalty in the end and obviously Bernard was able to slot it over.”

The Wallabies now play Argentina for a spot in their first World Cup final since 2003.

Eden Richards, QUT News.