Scotland were robbed so let's play it again, Australia

Rugby refs like Craig Joubert have the toughest job in sport

So Craig Joubert got it wrong - and Australia should have been awarded a scrum rather than the penalty which won them Sunday's Rugby World Cup quarter-final. Personally, I admire the guy for having the bottle to go with his interpretation of that particular situation - unlike the Scotland fan who is rumoured to have launched his bottle in the direction of the South African referee as he fled the field at the final whistle.

Rugby refs have the toughest job in sport. The game has so many rules that even the players don't know them. I remember asking England lock Wade Dooley  how he was going to deal with a new law about lineout jumping back in the early 90s and the big man replying: "I don't understand what it means. I'm just going to keep doing things the same way and see what happens.''

While new technology and TMO officials have become a tremendous asset to referees in recent years, the laws governing scrummaging, rucking and mauling are now so complex that it needs a rugby equivalent of  Judge Judy, Judge Rinder plus the entire International Board to get anywhere near an unarguably correct decision.

And then the verdict comes too late to save the innocent man from the gallows. Or does it?

In the perfect world, Australia's lucky winners would hold their hands up, approach the Scottish Rugby Union and say: "Fair dinkum, Blue. You were robbed so let's play the game again.'' 

That's not going to happen, of course, because this is professional sport and is all about winning, with its millions of financial benefits. Particularly when one is talking about the Rugby World Cup.

At the risk of Scotch bottles flying through my lounge window, dare I suggest that Australia would have scored from the scrum, anyway? 

Sadly, the sight of Southern Hemisphere teams closing out the big games against the Home Nations has become the norm in recent years. Wales, for instance, have lost their last 11 matches against Australia - five of the last six by five points or less. In most of those games, they had been leading until the final moments - just as they were against South Africa in Saturday's quarter-final. Enter Fourie Du Preeze, goodbye Wales. 

Scotland the Brave, Gatland the Grave, Lancaster Bummers and Faint Patrick's Day.

Where's that bottle of Southern Comfort?