Vern Cotter's Scotland side, packed with Edinburgh Rugby and Glasgow Warriors players, came closest to progressing to the quarter-finals of the competition as a last-minute penalty saw them lose out 35-34 to Australia.
Glasgow centre Peter Horne darted through to score and give the Scots a surprise 16-15 lead at the end of a breathless first-half, with the boot of Greig Laidlaw ensuring they stayed in front after tries from Adam Ashley-Cooper, Drew Mitchell, and Michael Hooper were all unconverted.
And it was the Warriors stars who reacted again after Australia moved into the lead, when fly-half Finn Russell charged down Bernard Foley's kick before gathering the ball and feeding GUINNESS PRO12 teammate Tommy Seymour to score.
Centre Mark Bennett then looked to have snatched a win when he picked off James Slipper's poor pass to dive under the posts, but when a last-gasp penalty was coolly dispatched by Foley, Scotland's hopes of causing a big upset were dashed.
Elsewhere there was more bad news for the GUINNESS PRO12 players as Ireland were eliminated by Argentina.
Missing their talismanic Leinster fly-half, Jonathan Sexton, as well as his teammate Sean O'Brien, captain Paul O'Connell and Munster flanker Peter O'Mahony, the men in green could not cope with an early onslaught from Los Pumas.
Leinster's Luke Fitzgerald - who had replaced Ulster's Tommy Bowe before the break - brought Ireland back into the contest as he raced through after good work by Conor Murray and Connacht centre Robbie Henshaw.
And despite Leinster flanker Jordi Murphy's score the other side of the interval, Ireland's comeback ran out of steam as Argentina stretched away towards the end of the game as former Cardiff Blues full-back Joaquin Tuculet got his name on the scoresheet.
An injury-ravaged Wales were also beaten on Saturday at Twickenham, as South Africa - who have GUINNESS PRO12 duo Ruan Pienaar and Zane Kirchner in the squad - booked a semi-final showdown with New Zealand.
The Ospreys' Dan Biggar was once again massively influential for the under-strength Wales lineup, who despite a brave performance were undone on 75 minutes by a Fourie du Preez try in the corner.
The 26-year-old - who notched 176 points in 16 GUINNESS PRO12 appearances last term - scored 14 points with the boot, including a fine drop-goal, and created the chance for Scarlets scrum-half Gareth Davies to score his fifth try of the tournament.
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