Northern hemisphere rugby suffered a chastening day at the World Cup seven years ago.
Scotland fell to a heartbreaking 35-34 loss to Australia and Ireland were beaten 43-20 by Argentina as the southern hemisphere completed a clean sweep of the quarter-finals.
Ireland’s result was particularly disappointing, with Argentina dumping them out of a World Cup for the third time at the Millennium Stadium.
Having lost Paul O’Connell, Peter O’Mahony and Johnny Sexton through injury, Ireland started disastrously and were unable to recover.
Ireland back Keith Earls said: “It’s devastating to be going home tomorrow after putting your body on the line for the whole tournament.
“We thought we were in a good place last week. We had a few injuries and we were missing a few massive leaders, but it’s not easy when you give a team a 17-point lead after 15 minutes.”
Scotland could take great credit for their performance but Bernard Foley’s controversial last-gasp penalty at Twickenham earned victory for Australia.
In a thrilling eight-try contest, Mark Bennett’s interception try looked set to seal a tremendous upset for Scotland but referee Craig Joubert gave Australia a penalty for deliberate offside and Foley had the last word.
Scotland were incensed with the decision, and captain Greig Laidlaw said: “At this moment in time it’s very hard to take. It’s a very upset dressing room, as you can imagine.
“We’ve made big strides since the Six Nations. We were one kick away from being in the semi-finals and arguably we should have been there.
“Now’s not the time to move forward, we need to get over this disappointment first. We’ve got the makings of a strong team.”
It was the first time ever that no Six Nations side reached the World Cup semi-finals, with New Zealand going on to beat Australia in the final.
