Redpath in his farewell appearance. (Getty Images)

Outgoing Scotland coach Ian McGeechan has called on the International Rugby Board to sort out the obstruction laws after his team crashed out of the World Cup in Brisbane.

Despite producing their finest performance of the competition, the Scots still slipped to a 33-16 defeat against an Australian side which continually used decoy runners in attack, a ploy which is supposed to be against the rules.

And though McGeechan admitted he did not have a preference whether they should be allowed or not, he said the confusion generated by the present situation had not helped his team.

"Crossing is a problem and we have to get it sorted out," he said.

"I am not saying Australia are the only ones who use the tactic but they are certainly the most adept and they do it far closer to the defensive line.

"At one stage Mat Rogers nearly charged into one of his own men before breaking through and for an awful moment I didn't think he would be penalised.

"It is an issue on the field and the players are finding it difficult to cope with."

McGeechan refused to rise to suggestions that Wendell Sailor should have been sin-binned during the opening period when he clearly threw a punch at Nathan Hines.

Not only did referee Steve Walsh not produce the yellow card, he also decided not to allow Scotland the advantage when Gregor Townsend appeared to have sent Kenny Logan charging towards the line with an astute chip-kick.

"It would have been nice to have got something out of it," he admitted.

"I'm not having a particular go at Steve but there does seem to be a pattern of the bigger nations benefiting from tight refereeing calls."

In his last match in charge before he replaces Jim Telfer as the SRU director of rugby, McGeechan said he was proud of the effort his players put in at Suncorp Stadium.

Level at the break, the Scots could not fight their way back after Stirling Mortlock had charged home from halfway for the game's opening try and further efforts from George Gregan and David Lyons put the game beyond their reach before Rob Russell's late touchdown offered them some consolation for the long flight home.

"We are very disappointed because the scoreline didn't reflect the effort we put in," said Telfer.

"Our forwards played as well as they have done for a number of years, the line-out worked well and I didn't think Australia were a threat in the scrum.

"The referee made a mistake for their first try because he allowed play to go on when one of their guys was clearly offside and we didn't get the rub of the green when it really mattered.

"There was a lot to be pleased about though and hopefully some people will give us a little bit of credit."

Wallabies coach Eddie Jones glossed over the negative aspects of a performance which will see his side installed as long odds-against to triumph over New Zealand in next Saturday's semi-final.

Until Mortlock's try, the attacking threat from Australia's back division was limited solely to Lote Tuqiri and the shambolic performance of the home pack raises serious concerns about their ability to compete against the All Blacks.

"I am quite satisfied," said Jones. "We are where we want to be."

In exonerating Sailor, Jones then turned his attention to Scotland's tactics, insisting the visitors should have had players sin-binned for deliberately killing the ball.

"I have never seen Wendell throw a punch, I don't think he knows how to," he said.

"As for Scotland, if teams continually give penalties away in the tackle area, they should be shown a yellow card. It doesn't matter if it is the first minute or the last.

"We want a game that can be played quickly and the referees should officiate to the laws, not to whether the match is going to be a spectacle or not."

It was an emotional end to the illustrious international careers of Bryan Redpath and Kenny Logan, who, never likely to be short of a word or two, felt his new status as an ex-international gave him the freedom to offer an opinion on next week's semi-final.

"New Zealand will win," he said.

"They have a lot more firepower and a lot more threat in their back division."