We have never looked as good as this...the rest of the world will be worried
IN A game that lasts 80 minutes and now involves up to 46 players, picking out one turning point can seem simplistic. But I defy anyone to argue that Tommy Bowe’s intercept score was not a game-changer for us last night.
It leaves us three out of three for the November series, comfortably settled as third-best team in the world, and now a real threat for honours in the game for the next 12 months. Irish rugby has never looked as good, thanks to the quality of the players, the abilities of the management and the strength in numbers available to them.
Ireland would not be written off had they lost to the Australians, but the world has to take notice of the threat after Australia joined South Africa in being beaten.
And it is in large part down to Bowe. He anticipated the pass from Nick Phipps and scored a great breakaway try, but the alternative was a Wallaby score: they would definitely have crossed for a score had Phipps’ pass reached Tevita Kuridrani.
And a score then could have given them enough momentum to drive on. We would have found it tougher to put shape on the game the way we did in the second half, and victory would have been much harder to achieve.
Bowe did the business, and Ireland got what they deserved. He was just one of the players who showed up for what was a simply brilliant performance. It was incredible to watch at times, and we had our work cut out.
They did to us what we did to South Africa: they were in our faces and they defended with huge aggression, a Michael Cheika trademark. They are lethal on loose, messy ball; it is one of their traditional strengths and they are still brilliant at it.
Their tactic was to force turnovers by playing hard in Irish faces, then pouncing on the loose ball to create opportunities. We were tackling the man in the first half and they were getting the ball out of the tackle, which didn’t help. Every one of their players seems to be able to off-load expertly, but we eventually got to grips with it.
We defended far better in the second half. We made the game tighter, we were cuter at the breakdown and we drew the sting out of them. Australia had no interest in or use for slow ball, but we made it frustrating for them.
It was no surprise to see Paul O’Connell lead the Irish effort in the manner he did.
He is an exceptional captain, and those players would follow him to the gates of hell. He had great support in Rory Best, Rhys Ruddock and Peter O’Mahony, and I thought Johnny Sexton and Rob Kearney were brilliant. Kearney is back playing as well as he ever did, and Robbie Henshaw is playing like a guy who was born to play in the centre for his country. Suddenly, all those worries people had about the No13 jersey don’t seem so severe.
I think Ian Madigan deserves a mention for how well he did when he came on. He is a clever player, and he reads the game quickly. This guy can grow into a real gamebreaker, maybe off the bench but vital nonetheless.
The scrum remains a worry for me, if I’m honest. We do not have enough power in there. I have felt that for a while and I’m firmer in that conviction now. People can make the mistake of thinking the health of a scrum depends entirely on two props and the hooker.
That is not so. It’s not all about the front row, and that leads to my reservations about Devin Toner. I understand his effectiveness at the lineout but I don’t think he brings enough power to the scrum. Every player from one to eight needs to be powering forward and in the modern game you need serious muscle in your locks. I’m not sure if Toner provides that, and Dave Foley is a player who could make big strides if he keeps performing for Munster.
That brings us back to depth, and Schmidt has that now. He also has a country sky-high on expectations ahead of the Six Nations. And he should welcome that. Ireland are competing with the very best now. They don’t look out of place in that company.