Wallabies coach Michael Cheika has come to the defence of referee Craig Joubert following the dramatic conclusion to the fourth quarter-final at the Rugby World Cup.
Joubert has come in for heavy criticism following a couple of 50-50 calls in Australia's gripping 35-34 win over Scotland -- a result that has earned the two-time champions a semi-final date with Argentina at Twickenham next weekend.
The South African's decision to sin-bin Scotland winger Sean Maitland for a deliberate knockdown early in the second half before awarding Australia a last-minute penalty -- which Wallabies fly-half Bernard Foley kicked to win the game -- resulted in a chorus of boos at full-time just as Joubert himself made a hasty exit from the pitch.
Sources at the ground confirmed at least two bottles were thrown onto the Twickenham turf as Joubert departed, an action Cheika slammed on Monday as he backed the under-fire referee's decision-making process.
"Well someone threw a bottle at him, didn't he?" the Wallabies boss said. "I'd be racing off too if I saw a bottle go.
"No, no, I don't think that's funny. I saw it, in the vision, I think I saw a bottle go on the field and if I saw a bottle being thrown I'd be getting off there as well. Like, what is that?
"So I don't think anything about him going off quickly.
"With Craig Joubert, he refereed the semi-final of Super Rugby when I was coaching at New South Wales, where he sent off one of our players and gave a penalty-try for a high-tackle when the player was like 20cm of the ground. Right?
"And when I talked to him afterwards about his decision, he backed it up clearly and he has a very methodical way that he makes his decisions. And as frustrated as I was, you've just got to wear that, you know?
Meanwhile, Wallabies scrum-half Will Genia has revealed how he couldn't bring himself to watch Foley's match-winner -- the No.9 instead opting to trust the crowd's reaction as to whether he'd be spending another week at the Rugby World Cup.
"I had the big hoodie on - I put my head down and just thought if I hear a really loud cheer he's missed and if I hear a little bit of a cheer he's got it," Genia said. "So I was real grateful it was a little bit of a cheer."
The Australians scored five tries to three on Sunday but found themselves trailing inside the final five minutes after Scotland centre Mark Bennett had picked off an intercept from a poor James Slipper pass.
Foley, too, had been guilty of a brain explosion in trying a chip kick that resulted in another Scotland try as the Wallabies struggled to deal with the pressure of the occasion.
"It was a rollercoaster of emotions," Genia said of what was a bizarre 80 minutes. "You're up, you're down, you're in the game, you're out of the game and then you're sitting on the sidelines and you can't do anything to influence the result.
"I don't know how to feel; just relieved more than anything else and just so proud of the effort once again and just really looking forward to another week being part of the Rugby World Cup.
"We speak a lot about belief and as hair-raising as those sorts of moments can be, you've still got to back yourself and believe in what you can do as an individual and collectively as a group.
"So it was nerve-wracking for the guys sitting on the sideline but we had genuine belief in the guys who were on the field at the time."