Australia struggled to defeat huge underdogs Scotland because the players had started to believe their own hype after dominating the so-called `Pool of Death', Wallabies coach Michael Cheika said on Monday.

Cheika took ownership of the near-terminal quarterfinal slip-up at Twickenham, where Wallabies' blushes were saved when Bernard Foley coolly converted a controversial 80th-minute penalty, saying he and his players had failed to pay proper attention to Scotland after gaining the attention of their rivals, pundits, bookmakers and the media with consecutive impressive wins over England and Wales to round out an undefeated pool stage.

The Wallabies were expected to easily account for the world No.9-ranked Test team, and Cheika said the high praise during the pool phase may have gone to their heads.

"I've got to take a lot of the responsibility for the team not fulfilling its potential on Sunday," Cheika said.

Michael Cheika © Getty Images

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"I think I let the team think too much about the games before.

"They were still thinking about the game against Wales and game against England and I let that atmosphere stay.

"I don't feel that I as a coach performed very well last week in preparing the team for that quarterfinal, I'll make sure it doesn't happen again this week."

Australia's standards across the pitch were lower than had been set during the pool stage, with tries conceded from lazy ruck defence, a charge-down and intercept. But Cheika felt in particular that the Wallabies had not paid due attention to the Scottish scrum, and paid the price accordingly.

The Wallabies' scrum, which had developed a reputation as a force to be reckoned with after dismantling England's pack, conceded three penalties and failed to set the tone as Cheika and scrum doctor Mario Ledesma demand.

"We maybe went away from our way a little bit at times," captain and hooker Stephen Moore said. "That's the way it goes sometimes. Not everything is always going to go your way. We need to work on that during the week because the scrum is no doubt one of the cornerstones of the Argentinian game, and we need to make sure that functions well for us.