Scotland scrum-half Greig Laidlaw has insisted that his side have made "great strides" in the last few months, despite their exit from the Rugby World Cup.

Vern Cotter's side, who picked up the wooden spoon at this year's Six Nations, were just a minute away from reaching the last four for the first time since 1991 in this afternoon's quarter-final against Australia at Twickenham.

However, Bernard Foley kicked a late penalty to hand the Wallabies a dramatic 35-34 victory and set up a semi-final showdown with Argentina next weekend.

"Right at this moment in time it's hard to take. It's a very upset dressing room, as you can imagine," Laidlaw told Sports Mole.

"I think we've made great strides since the Six Nations if I'm being honest. We were one kick away from being in the semi-finals of the World Cup and arguably we probably should have been.

"I don't know what to say. We move forward, but now is not the time. We need to get over our disappointment first."

The result means that there will be no Northern Hemisphere teams in the last four of the World Cup for the first time ever.