by Michael McCann
at Twickenham

FULL-BACK Stuart Hogg believes the performance of Scotland merited victory in their 35-34 Rugby World Cup quarter-final loss to Australia on Sunday.

The Wallabies were heavy favourites but ultimately only triumphed through a controversial 78th-minute penalty from Bernard Foley, leaving Hogg arguing that Scotland deserved to reach the semi-finals.

“I believe we deserved to win that game, we put in an incredible performance for 80 minutes and a few things did not go our way, but we will learn from this and move in.”

“I am devastated but proud of everyone who put that jersey on as we have worked incredibly hard for this and were in a great position.”

“We will continue to learn as we are a fairly young squad with a few experienced heads in there — we will learn from this and move on.

The 23 year-old also enjoyed receiving such positive support at Twickenham on Sunday, with Scottish fans making up the majority of the crowd.

“At Twickenham you get used to being booed and heckled all the time, and to actually have a great support behind us was incredible. Scotland fans created a cracking atmosphere.”

Captain Greg Laidlaw kicked seven from eight attempts, accumulating 19 points to help Scotland almost reach a World Cup semi-final for the first time since 1991, before explaining that the disappointment from the defeat to Australia will linger.

“At this moment in time it is hard to talk. It is a pretty upset dressing room, as you can imagine. I think we are a better side than we showed in the Six Nations this year and I’m not just saying that.

“We were one kick away from the semi-final and arguably we should have been — it’s going to take us a long time to get over this.”