Jones salutes Aussie patience

Australia cruise past Scotland Match photos

Australia coach Eddie Jones insisted it was only a matter of time before the Wallabies overpowered Scotland 33-16 in their quarter-final in Brisbane.

The hosts and defending champions turned round 9-9 at half time after an opening period of sustained pressure from Scotland.

But after the break, Australia scored tries through Stirling Mortlock, George Gregan and David Lyons to put the game beyond Scotland's reach, despite a late consolation from hooker Rob Russell.

Scotland have not beaten Australia for 21 years, the Wallabies winning 13 of the last 20 Tests

"I thought Scotland competed very well at the tackle area, and it was by far their best performance of the tournament," said Jones.

"We can certainly play better, but it was a very tough first half.

"We came out in the second half and put the game to bed pretty easily and were able to make a number of changes off our bench by the 55-minute mark so we're where we need to be.

They're always great games [Australia v New Zealand] and there's a massive, massive prize at the end of this Australia captain George Gregan

"Scotland were always going to come out hard in the first 40 minutes.

"We just needed to absorb that pressure and we knew that if we kept the pressure on in the second half the errors and opportunities would come."

Australia will meet trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand in Sydney in next weekend's semi-finals, after the All Blacks beat South Africa 29-9.

And Australia captain George Gregan said: "I guess it's the match both teams probably knew that at some stage we were going to have.

"We haven't been talking about it, but it's on and we can't wait to be back home in Sydney playing against the All Blacks.

"They're always great games and there's a massive, massive prize at the end of this."