GLORIOUS END TO GREATEST SEASON
Ireland state World Cup intent in ending 39-year wait for a series win on Australian soil
THE Lansdowne Cup might not be the most prestigious trophy in international rugby, but the size of the achievement was clear on the faces of Joe Schmidt’s players as Ireland crawled over the line in Sydney to claim a 2-1 series victory over Australia.
This was by no means the most complete performance on Schmidt’s watch, but that will matter little as Ireland ground out a four-point win to close the book on the greatest season in Irish rugby history following a clean sweep in the November 2017 series and the superb Grand Slam-winning Six Nations campaign.
Clearly running on fumes at the end of a grueling season, Ireland had to fight for their lives in a frantic second half as a far fresher Australia bombarded the visitors as they searched for a winning score.
After the thrilling, fluid nature of the first two Tests, yesterday’s decider in Sydney began with a more cautious approach from both sides.
There was a series on the line and, fittingly, this was played like a final.
In a stodgy opening period both teams struggled to build much momentum, just as in Melbourne last week, the hosts looked the brighter and got off to a promising start. Only this time, they failed to penetrate the Irish line.
The Wallabies found no way through as they looked to stretch the Irish defence in the opening stages. Instead, it was the visitors who took the lead thanks to a Johnny Sexton penalty.
Although the first half failed to produce any tries, it wasn’t short on incident. By the 30-minute mark both sides had lost their respective captains to injury.
First, Michael Hooper headed for the sideline having felt the full force of a Tadhg Furlong clearout with less than 20 minutes on the clock. Ten minutes later, Peter O’Mahony was carted off after a dangerous mid-air pull back from Israel Folau which saw the Munster man land heavily on his back. O’Mahony had suffered a similar fall as he tried to collect a high ball at the start of the half.
At that stage the scores were level at 6-6, with all the scoring coming from the boots of Sexton and his opposite number, Bernard Foley.
Perhaps the dip in quality should have been expected on the third week of a demanding tour, and uncharacteristic errors were hampering both teams.
Shortly after Hooper had left the action, Jacob Stockdale saw yellow for leading with his elbow as he attempted to fend off Nick Phipps.
Neither team managed to breach the opposition defence, even when playing with a one-man advantage, with Ireland leaving a number of chances behind them, the most frustrating coming as Devin Toner spilled the ball under pressure after a patient 17 phase assault on the Wallaby line. Sexton and Foley traded threepointers before some sloppy defending from Australia allowed the Ireland out-half to grab a threepoint advantage at the interval, with Joe Schmidt’s men leading 12-9.
It may have been down to tired legs but, following the restart, the game finally began to open up.
Ireland registered the first try of the evening three minutes into the half, CJ Stander driving over from the back of a maul after Jordi Murphy – who had replaced O’Mahony – had done well to collect a line-out throw from Niall Scannell, named at hooker after Sean Cronin was forced to withdraw from the starting team through injury.
Sexton dragged his conversion wide, but instead of building on their lead the try triggered a period of sustained Wallaby pressure.
Gaps were beginning to appear in the Ireland defence, and Foley took advantage with a neat kick through that allowed Marika Koroibete to collect before bouncing off a Rob Kearney tackle and forcing himself over the white paint with Sexton clinging to his legs. Foley nailed the conversion to make it a one-point game.
Discipline was becoming an issue for Schmidt’s men, and they were let off the hook with 15 minutes to play as Foley dragged a penalty wide; by that stage, Ireland had coughed up five second-half penalties to Australia’s three.
Having seen so many of his key men suffer with fatigue in the closing stages in Melbourne, Schmidt emptied his bench as an exhausted Ireland tried to defend their onepoint lead in the final 10 minutes.
Tellingly, a clearly exhausted Sexton – who was now captain in O’Mahony’s absence – remained on the pitch, even after a crunching tackle by Samu Kerevi left him holding his ribs on the Sydney turf. It meant that Ross Byrne stayed on the bench and ended the tour as the only member of the squad not to get any game-time.
Schmidt places more trust in Sexton than any other member of his team, and that faith paid true when the battered and bruised out-half nailed a game-clinching penalty after Tolu Latu was penalised for being off his feet at the breakdown.
Australia had one last chance to strike, but after a tense TMO decision declared that a loose Foley pass to touch had not been knocked on by Stockdale, French referee Pascal Gauzere called time as Ireland took the match, and the series 2-1.
A fitting end to a superb campaign as Schmidt’s men head for some hard-earned time off with the bar set high ahead of next season, when the World Cup truly comes into focus.