NOTHING IS BEYOND JOE SCHMIDT AND HIS IRELAND TEAM AFTER THIS BRILLIANT RESULT
Ireland and their stricken supremo prove impossible to faze on hectic day
THIS WAS the type of match Joe Schmidt and Michael Cheika are supposed to have driven out of Ireland. The pair are credited with helping to rid the place of feckless, unstructured, rugby. Their teams are distinguished by discipline, knowhow and control. Loose rugby was supposed to have gone the way of snakes and house phones.
Then they put two sides out on the field to shoot at each other like duellists. The match turned into a throwback, one of those Irish rugby occasions of yore when nobody knew what would happen next – least of all the players.
And this left most of the sold-out attendance in the Aviva Stadium rattling with excitement, but two likely exceptions were Schmidt and Cheika. Loosey-goosey, harum-scarum, helter-skelter: call it what you will, but this was hell for a coach.
Neither Schmidt nor Cheika spent the week designing a game-plan that incorporated free-style rugby.
Australia are traditionally associated with an instinctive style, sourced in their high skill levels.
They certainly appeared more comfortable when the plans for this match were reduced to confetti and it became an extended sevens session. Yet their great hope is that Cheika will bring reason to their style.
He is charged with putting lightning in a bottle. On this evidence, the Wallabies’ primal rugby instincts will not be easily tamed.
Ireland’s willingness to meet the Australians in such open combat will have pushed Schimdt’s pulse to an uncomfortable pace (as though he were not uncomfortable enough battling appendicitis throughout).
But it also proves the confidence this group have in themselves. They did not look inferior when survival depended on quick off-loads, quicker thinking and brave calls.
Tommy Bowe gambled on thieving a Nick Phipps pass in the shadow of his own posts and ended up seconds later dotting the ball down for a try. Conor Murray tried a daring chip pass to himself; Robbie Henshaw relished the riotous contest.
Rob Kearney played with a notable zeal. His opposite number was Australian superstar Israel Folau, not just the hope of this team but of the game in their country. After starring in league and flopping in Aussie Rules, Folau has been a sensation in union, proving his brilliance against the Lions last year.
Reports of million-dollar offers from rugby league clubs are frequent in the Australian press, and they are understandable given the luminous talent he controls. He is physically huge but gifted with it and, by the time the World Cup comes around, he will be touted as one of its stars and also as its best full-back.
Kearney will hotly contest that status if he keeps playing like this. He is back to his best and has shown as much throughout this series, but nowhere more than in this match.
There was an early contest between the two full-backs for a lofted Irish ball that came whistling out of the inky night. Folau rose and caught it, using his legs to keep Kearney away. Ireland’s No 15 was not to be bested for the rest of the afternoon. He is a player who emerged and bloomed under Cheika and, after a wretched run of injuries, he established himself as a premium talent again when Schmidt was at Leinster. Kearney is now one of Ireland’s leaders, and he showed some authority when trying a drop goal from over 40 metres when the teams were level at 23 apiece entering the final quarter.
The ball slapped back off a post, but the effort was good enough to leave the crowd wowed. Kearney left soon after in a daze following a battering but outstanding shift.
Shortly after his attempt some in the attendance were half-heartedly booing when Kurtley Beale and Quade Cooper were sent in by Cheika. They brought more than notoriety to the game, though, with Beale breaking through only to be called back after a forward pass set him free.
The booing was mild but still silly, and a little rich given the outrage in the first half when an Australian supporter tried to disrupt a Sexton penalty with a chant.
The out-half scored, but a pompous PA announcement reminded supporters of the ‘long-standing’ tradition of respecting kickers, which was met by self-congratulatory applause.
Boos and heckles were incidental to an occasion that left you gasping.
The scores dried up as the clock wound down, but chaos was still gleefully in play. Out of the bedlam, one team emerged – and it was Ireland.
They are not supposed to survive contests like this.
But then nothing appears beyond this team or their coach now.