Scotland suffered a demoralising pool-stage exit from the World Cup after being unable to get the big win they needed against Ireland.
Here, the PA news agency looks back at how the tournament unfolded for Gregor Townsend’s side.
Hype and expectation
Everything seemed possible for the Scots when they first touched down in sun-drenched Nice just over five weeks ago, fresh from an encouraging summer in which they had produced two rousing displays against France and beaten Italy and Georgia to cement their status as the fifth-ranked team in the world. At their welcome ceremony their former player John Jeffrey – in his guise as World Rugby’s vice-chair – told everyone in attendance “this is without doubt the best ever Scotland team to take the field”.
False start against the Springboks
After all the anticipation and pre-tournament optimism, Scotland fell flat in their opener in Marseille, failing to land a meaningful blow as defending champions South Africa stifled the life out of them. Losing 18-3, it was the Scots’ lowest-scoring outing since the opening game of the previous World Cup.
The long, idle fortnight
The Scots had a full two weeks to lick their wounds following their demoralising start. With no game on the second weekend of the tournament, the players were given a few days’ downtime with family immediately after the South Africa loss. Even when not in action, however, the Scots’ qualification hopes suffered a further blow as Ireland defeated the Springboks.
Cherry bows out
One of the most notable stories of that week was hooker Dave Cherry’s withdrawal from the squad after suffering concussion when falling on stairs on the way to his bedroom following a team day off. Cherry, 32, had made his World Cup debut as a substitute against South Africa the previous day. The Edinburgh forward at least had the consolation of going home to welcome his baby daughter into the world later in the month.
McInally’s emotional roller-coaster
Stuart McInally became one of the big stories of Scotland’s World Cup without actually getting to see a minute’s action. The 33-year-old hooker announced in April he would be retiring after the tournament. He was named in the provisional 41-man squad in May, then cut from the final 33 in August, called out to France as cover when Ewan Ashman suffered concussion before the Boks game and then flew home when his fellow hooker recovered. It looked like the fairytale career swansong was on when McInally – on 49 caps – got the call to officially join the squad after Cherry’s withdrawal, but cruelly he had to pull out himself just over a week later after suffering a neck injury.
Back on track
Scotland needed bonus-point wins over Tonga and Romania to keep their slim qualification hopes alive and they duly obliged with comfortable 45-17 and 84-0 victories. The two wins featured 19 tries for the Scots, with five of them scored by Darcy Graham, who climbed to joint second on the national team’s all-time try-scoring list with 24, just three shy of record-holder Stuart Hogg.
Matthews’ big moment
After the misfortune of his fellow hookers Cherry and McInally, 30-year-old Johnny Matthews – effectively the sixth-choice in his position – was called up after the Tonga game, having never previously won a full cap. Just over 10 minutes after entering the fray for his debut against Romania in Lille, the Glasgow forward bolted over to mark his unlikely international bow by scoring the Scots’ 10th try of the match.
Outclassed by Ireland
Those triumphs over Tonga and Romania helped revive Scottish morale and sparked hope of pulling off a shock win over Ireland to qualify for the quarter-finals. The Scots needed to beat the world’s number one team – whom they had not defeated since 2017 – either with a bonus point or by denying their opponents a losing bonus. All the pre-match talk of permutations was rendered pointless, however, as the Irish raced into a 36-0 lead. Scotland rallied to make the scoreline a more respectable 36-14, but the damage was done.
Killed in the group of death
Ultimately – as a result of the pool draw being made almost three years ago – Scotland were undone by sharing a group with the two nations who began this tournament as the top-ranked pair in the world, Ireland and South Africa. Over the past year the Scots have beaten each of the four sides who reached the quarter-finals in the opposite side of a lop-sided draw – England, Fiji, Wales and Argentina – but, despite the undoubted progress they have made in recent years, they remain a considerable way short of the level of the game’s four current heavyweights.
Smith not pinning blame on Ford for England loss
Marcus Smith does not blame England's narrow defeat to New Zealand on Saturday on George Ford, despite his late missed kicks.
Ford replaced Smith, who had scored 17 points and set up England's only try in their 24-22 loss, hitting a potential match-winning penalty against the post before narrowly missing a drop goal.
England had held an eight-point advantage when Smith left the field, but Mark Tele'a's 76th-minute try before Damian McKenzie added five late points proved enough to get the All Blacks over the line.
The hosts' autumn series got off to a losing start as Ford struggled to find his clinical edge in the dying moments, but Smith does not lay any blame at his team-mate's feet.
"Sometimes that's the life of a kicker, we've all experienced that. It's part and parcel of the job," said Smith.
"I've learned so much off George. He's an unbelievable kicker, both off the tee and out of hand. It was one of those days.
"It's nothing to do with him why we didn't win the game. It's a team effort. Every kicker in the world has experienced that.
"We practise [drop-goals] as kickers every single day, but sometimes it doesn't go for you. We're all human and people miss."
Saturday marked a third consecutive narrow loss to New Zealand for England, with their last win an emphatic victory over Japan in June.
Despite that run, Smith remains confident that England can take lessons from these defeats to set themselves up for success in the future.
"International rugby is very different to the Premiership and the experiences we're experiencing now are very painful, but we'll be better for them," Smith added.
"Keep the faith. We've fallen again on the wrong side of the result, but we'll learn from it 100%.
"These experiences will tighten us as a group, and it will be worth it in the long run. We will be better for it."
England 'banging on the door' of rugby's elite, says proud Borthwick
Steve Borthwick reckons England are "banging on the door" of the elite nations after their close loss to New Zealand.
England went down 24-22 to the All Blacks in Saturday's Test match at Twickenham.
Mark Tele'a scored the decisive try for New Zealand, who beat England twice in July, in the 76th minute.
England missed the chance to win it late on when George Ford missed a drop-goal attempt, after he had struck the post with a penalty.
But coach Borthwick, who was immensely proud of his team, feels England showed they are capable of mixing it with the best teams in the world, despite losing four of their last five Tests.
"It is a mixture of immense pride at the performance against a very tough New Zealand team and one of incredible disappointment," Borthwick told BBC Radio 5 Live.
"They are the emotions we balance and will work through over the next few days.
"When we started two years ago we wanted to get England right to the top of world rugby again. You can see the team banging on the door."
With the pre-match build-up having been dominated by Joe Marler's jibe at New Zealand's pre-match haka routine, tries from Tele'a and Will Jordan put New Zealand in control.
Marcus Smith's penalties kept England in contention, though, and he set up the hosts' only try when he intercepted a loose pass and teed up Immanuel Feyi-Waboso.
Yet England ultimately failed to hold on to an eight-point advantage, with Ford having to be consoled by his team-mates after the match.
Next up for England are Australia, with fixtures against South Africa and Japan also in store.
"We really have to find a way of winning these close ones," said captain Jamie George. "We put ourselves in a really good position after 60 minutes.
"Eight points is a lot in Test match rugby but we probably went chasing the game a bit and gave away too many penalties. We have to be smarter in that respect."
England walked up to the halfway line to face the haka, something George explained was planned prior to Marler's comments.
"That was always our plan before Joe's comments but we did it in a respectful way," said George. "I saw a smile on Scott Barrett’s face, I was smiling, and it was done in good spirits."
England aiming to be one of 'world's best' teams, says Earl
England have aspirations of greatness, asserted Ben Earl as he prepares to face New Zealand in a friendly at Twickenham.
The 26-year-old was optimistic about the progress England had made under Steve Borthwick despite registering two losses at the hands of the All Blacks in July.
England will be seeking revenge after losing the second match of the test in a devastatingly close 16-15 defeat. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso had scored a try to put England ahead after scores had been tied 10-10 at half-time, but two penalty kicks from Damian McKenzie ended their hopes.
Earl, however, believes the heartbreak has given his country an opportunity to develop.
“I think it’s an experience all the big teams go through, you have to go through some heartache to get over the line,” he told TNT Sports.
“It just feels like it’s the evolution of all the top teams, and we are a team that wants to be known as a great team, some of the world’s best.
“So we know the heartache is good for a while, but it’s time to go and do it at the right time. We got a glimpse of it against Ireland last year, and we feel we are due one, and we have learnt some really hard lessons over the summer, so we feel we are in a better place for it.
“We have always said you don’t win easily against us and that’s something we have developed over the last 18 months with Steve’s mindset and the boys getting hold of it, and now I feel it’s time to get over the line in one of these big games.”
New Zealand have won their last three matches, having defeated Japan and secured a double over Australia. They struggled against reigning world champions South Africa, however, as they failed to exact revenge on the Springboks in late summer tests falling to defeat twice.
Undoubtedly, the All Blacks still represent some of the best talent in the world, with Earl expected to line up opposite New Zealand’s superstar Wallace Sititi.
“There’s stardust littered all over the pitch isn’t there? There’s some pretty cool match-ups; it just feels like a game that isn’t going to disappoint,” he said.
England won’t be overawed, though. Instead, they aim to make their west London home a fortress for visiting sides to travel to.
“[Twickenham is] a place where we want to be really, really hard to beat. And we’ve always said in the camp, if you want to beat us at Twickenham you are going to have to be over and above the norm,” Earl said.
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