ON TOP DOWN UNDER
Ireland celebrate first series win in Australia in 39 years
JOE SCHMIDT praised his squad’s character after Ireland held on for a thrilling 20-16 win over Australia in Sydney to claim a famous series victory.
Ireland were hampered by a string of injuries in the build-up to the game while heavy traffic delayed the team’s arrival to the Allianz Stadium.
However, unlike Edinburgh in 2017 – where a shock Six Nations defeat to hosts Scotland was put down to transport delays and problems reaching the ground – the disruptions en route to the stadium on this occasion didn’t throw Schmidt’s men off course as they battled to a first series win
Down Under in 39 years. ‘We’ll be forensic going back over the video and have a good look, but a heck of a lot of it tonight was about character,’ said the Ireland head coach.
‘The Wallabies came back and came back in waves. Credit to the guys, young Jordan Larmour having to work really hard, Jordi Murphy, Tadhg Beirne, those guys having to come in to what was a real furnace and they came out the other side. Let’s hope that furnace develops the diamonds we need.’
Schmidt was also keen to play down his own role after a brilliant season which saw Ireland record a clean sweep of wins in the November window before delivering a Grand Slam and summer series win.
‘It comes back to the provinces,’ he continued. ‘They manage them [the players] well, keep enough juice in the tank. I’m not sure we could play again next week. I think all that juice is used up.
‘Maybe, we didn’t have this generation of player in the past. I would take my hat off to the coaching team.
‘Logistics were great, apart from the bus. It took 13 minutes to get here yesterday, took over 30 minutes to get here tonight. We were a little bit behind the eight ball, but we didn’t look ruffled when we started.
‘It was the first of the three games we took a 3-0 lead, first time we scored first.’
CJ Stander, who enjoyed one of his best evenings in the green jersey and powered over for the crucial second-half try, also praised Ireland’s resistance in the series’ final moments.
‘The last 20 minutes it was wave and wave and I’m really proud of the guys, they really stepped up today,’ remarked the Munster player.