Centimetres of the bounce of the ball cost Scotland their last-four place in the Rugby World Cup, according to an emotional David Denton after Scotland’s cruel quarter-final defeat to Australia.
The Scots were edged out by a late penalty given in controversial fashion by South African referee Craig Joubert, who later sprinted from the pitch without shaking the hands of any of the players after blowing his whistle for the end of the match.
That odd action had most of the Scots puzzled, coming in the wake of his refusal to consult the TMO over his crucial offside call on the Scots at a disrupted lineout, a decision that allowed Australia’s Bernard Foley to kick the winning three-pointer in their 35-34 win.
“A bounce of the ball has changed the next four years of our life,” said Denton. “And it was literally centimetres, I suppose it’s the nature of pro sport but it’s devastating. There’s no doubt it’s the toughest loss of my career and most of the boys would say that.”
Denton added he wasn’t sure why Joubert hadn’t consulted the TMO in the wake of his decision that Jon Welsh had been offside taking a loose ball after a number of hands of both sides had grasped and failed to take it.
“I’m not 100 pc sure what the rule is, we’ve been told several different ones in the dressing room but somewhere there’s a mistake,” said the No 8. “The fact you can’t go to a TMO there or he didn’t go is unbelievable.
“It’s tough, I understand that, he’s reffing the game in front of millions of people. This has affected the rest of our lives and a nation of people. Maybe the rule is that penalties can’t go back to the TMO, but if that’s the case it needs to change.”
Skipper Greig Laidlaw, reflecting the team’s upset at the end of the game, said that he had seen the referee watching replays on the big screens.
“He was looking at the big screen, he certainly wasn’t sure of himself,” he said. “He made a sharp exit at the end of the game, that’s for sure.
“I’d have spoken to him at the end but never got a chance he was off that quickly. Where I was it looked like (Australian replacement scrum-half Nick) Phipps jumped, it looked like it went back off him and we caught it.
“I’ve not had a chance to look at it again, but I thought there was an Aussie arm. But we’re not the type of people to blame little things, if we’d tightened up in other areas we might have not reached that situation.”
Laidlaw added that it was “gutting” to be one kick away from the semi-finals and to be denied.
“It’s obviously an upset dressing room,” he said. “The spirit of our side, we’re unbreakable, that’s what we’ve had throughout the tournament.
“No egos, every man works as hard as the rest. There were a couple of turnovers and things that can be improved. But it’s going to take a few weeks days to get over this.”
Peter Horne, who justified his selection in the centre with a first half try and some brave defence, said that the message in the dressing room was “this has to be a start”.
“I’ve never felt more gutted in my life, it’s devastating, but we need to build on that and take it to the next stage,” said the former Howe of Fife player.
“We’ve been saying at the end. Greig said he’d read somewhere that from the last World Cup to this we hadn’t won many games, so it’s vital we built on this performance and not just accept that we ran a good team close.
“We’ve got England first up in the 6 Nations and what better way to start it than there.”
Horne’s own try was a neat piece of opportunism after he’d spotted a weakness in the Australian defence, nipping through an unguarded ruck to go under the posts untouched.
“I thought there was few times before that they weren’t putting anyone at guard, Jonny (Gray) put in a great clearout and I was able to take advantage,” he said.