WHAT A GARRY ON
Ireland has the last laugh as Ringrose lights up Aviva with a superb solo try to end year with another massive win
WHAT a difference a week makes. Seven days earlier, Joe Schmidt swept into the bowels of Aviva Stadium seething but feeling he couldn’t be too outspoken about rough-house Kiwi tactics that had frequently gone unpoliced in a 9-21 defeat.
Here, there was nothing to prevent him talking breezily, the prime issue being the richness of Ireland’s comeback victory which put an emphatic end to Australian hopes of taking a fourth step towards completing a five-part European Grand Slam.
There were still incidences of foul play, Dean Mumm yellow-carded for landing Tadhg Furlong upside down on his shoulder and Bernard Foley likewise sanctioned at the end for his lifting of Devin Toner, but referee Jérôme Garcès, unlike Jaco Peyper last weekend, thankfully wasn’t a frustrating Irish talking point after a contest that Australia essentially blew, giving up a 24-20 final quarter lead on the back of overall 3-13 penalty and 19-6 turnover counts.
Schmidt’s press conference even started with a giggle, light-hearted reflections on how Ireland had still got over the line despite so much injury-enforced upheaval.
‘Rory (Best) is still getting his breath back so I will kick start,’ said the coach. ‘It’s certainly for me would be one of the proudest days that I have been on the periphery of a team that have shown immense character.
‘Kieran Marmion playing 40 minutes on the wing, his impact tackle on David Pocock to dislodge the ball forward was phenemonal. Simon Zebo said it was like the crèche out there, he was the old guy looking after the kids running around. It’s probably reflective of how much control he has as a dad because the kids were all over the place.
‘Joey Carbery did a great job. Garry Ringrose again stepped up. It wasn’t perfect but you probably can’t expect perfection when those young guys step up, or attempt to, but we managed to get the edge because the boys up front did a great job.’
Australia boss Michael Cheika was left biting his lip over the referee on this occasion: ‘Very tough result. We played a lot in the end but we got penalised a lot. That cost field position, territory and points. Can’t win a Test match giving away that many penalties and that big a difference between the teams. Impossible.’