Take a BOWE Ireland
Early tries give boys in green momentum for victory
SO MUCH for Joe Schmidt’s pre-series claim that one southern hemisphere scalp was the ceiling of his team’s ambition.
The reality was, as borne out by their compelling heavyweight collision where both sides exhausted each other to a standstill, the poker-faced principal had underplayed the fact he still had the spine of his Six Nations winners at his disposal despite the injury profile of his wider squad.
He knew full well that if his typically detailed blueprints for success were followed that this sort of an unbeaten November outcome was possible.
A seventh win on the bounce. A first clean sweep at this juncture in the calendar since 2006. And, most importantly, valuable momentum heading into to 2015 and the championship title defence and all-important World Cup.
Ireland have been here before and, knowing Schmidt, caution will be the sermon he will preach. When the Boks and Wallabies were last seen off in quick succession eight years ago, Eddie O’Sullivan was swiftly fielding questions about his side being primed to conquer the world – and we all know what happened to that notion.
This contest’s wildly oscillating narrative will help ensure the inevitable giddy expectations are tempered. Ireland vaulted 17 points clear with a lung-bursting start but were eventually pegged back in an opening half which featured 40 evenly divided points.
And then, after an absorbing armwrestle of a second period that featured only three penalties after the opening phase’s five-try flourish, it was left to Ireland’s defence to make amends for earlier leakage and see out the win secured by Johnny Sexton’s 64th minute penalty.
How Ireland clung on was vindication of the valuable lessons being learned.
Skipper Paul O’Connell had said on Friday that how his side took care of business in the closing minutes was a repeated problem.
However, despite finding themselves under immense pressure in the closing 10 minutes, they absorbed everything Australia threw at them and there was a certain poignancy in seeing the win closed out through a penalty won at the final ruck for a Wallaby non-release.
As salient as the win will be for Schmidt against his Leinster predecessor Michael Cheika, he will be perturbed by the flagrant manner in which Ireland − whose lineout has some problems − lost the first-half initiative.
Whereas, in Australia’s 32-15 win a year ago the tourists hit the front early and stayed there, here it was as if such a commanding lead was too much for Ireland’s composure to handle. They wound up trooping off at the break 3-2 down on the try count after being two clear.
Turning defence into attack gave them initial nourishment, the tone set for the early onslaught by Simon Zebo’s stonewall collision with Tevita Kuridrani, the red-carded Wallaby tip-tackler from a year ago.
Ireland went ahead with Sexton landing the first of two penalty attempts, before the opening try on 12 minutes. Rory Best was excellent stripping Australia of maul possession before Sexton executed a dink towards the corner that popped up perfectly for Zebo.
If that was a positive demonstration of switching from back to front foot, what happened two minutes later was an even better example. Nick Phipps was laboured shuffling a pass towards Kuridrani in the Irish 22 and Tommy Bowe pounced for the intercept try onto which Sexton added the extras for 17-0.
This dominance was too good to be true, though, Australia hitting back on 18 minutes. Robbie Henshaw climbed to take a garryowen but when play came left, Zebo’s pass to Sexton, under pressure from Matt Toomua, was deflected backwards by Bernard Foley. Phipps was on it in a flash, stepping clear of the traffic and galloping all the way from inside his own half.
In an instant, Irish momentum was pierced and after Foley landed the conversion, they pounced for a controversial second try on 23 minutes. Knowing a penalty was coming, Foley crosskicked to Harry Speight who beat Rob Kearney in the air.
The cavalry then arrived and while Phipps’s pass looked to have wobbled forward before being grasped by Foley − who dived over despite Rhys Ruddock’s tackle − the TMO saw nothing untoward.
Foley’s shanked conversion left it 17-12, but the visitors pulled level with their third try on 31 minutes. Countering from inside their own half, Ireland were undone by Toomua’s reverse pass to Foley who breezed past Devin Toner and handed off for Phipps to sprint in.
Foley again failed with the extras, but he had the accuracy to land the penalty conceded by an offside Toner which meant Australia were − remarkably − in front by three points 23 minutes after being 17 in arrears.
They didn’t protect it, Luke Jones jumping across at the lineout to hand Sexton the levelling penalty, and the previously open exchanges now became tit-for-tat after the break.
Ireland went ahead six minutes in, Sexton punishing Jones’ ruck infringement, only for Ruddock to come up early at the scrum three minutes later to enable Foley to tie it up again.
What followed was a tension-filled closing half-hour. Kearney’s ambitious drop goal attempt cannoned off an upright before Sexton grabbed the lead when James Slipper was penalised for coming in at the side.
The Australian prop then ruined his team’s recovery mission in the 22, knocking on when tackled by Ian Madigan and then conceding a scrum penalty under pressure from Mike Ross to leave Ireland home and hosed.
IRELAND: R Kearney (F Jones, 78); T Bowe, R Henshaw, G D’Arcy (I Madigan, 59), S Zebo; J Sexton (E Reddan, 78), C Murray (E Reddan, 71-76); J McGrath, R Best (S Cronin, 68), M Ross, D Toner (D Foley, 62), P O’Connell, P O’Mahony, R Ruddock, J Heaslip. Scorers – Tries: Zebo, Bowe; Pens: Sexton (4); Cons: Sexton (2). AUSTRALIA: I Folau; A Ashley-Cooper, T Kuridrani (K Beale, 46), M Toomua, H Speight; B Foley (Q Cooper, 65), N Phipps (W Genia, 68); J Slipper (B Robinson, 76), S Fainga’a (J Hanson, 71), S Kepu (T Faulkner, 71), S Carter (W Skelton, 72), R Simmons, L Jones (J Schatz, 54), M Hooper, B McCalman. Scorers – Tries: Phipps (2), Foley; Pens: Foley (2); Con: Foley. REFEREE: G Jackson (NZR).