The Irish Mail on Sunday

IRELAND RATINGS

- By Hugh Farrelly

15 ROB KEARNEY 6 Outshone by the brilliance of Israel Folau on a busy night wth uncharacte­ristic errors mixed in with some excellent defending.

14 KEITH EARLS 6 Desperatel­y unfortunat­e with injury again, was looking sharp before he was forced off.

13 ROBBIE HENSHAW 5 Did not look comfortabl­e back in the 13 jersey and was way off what we have come to expect from him. Caught out badly in defence.

12 BUNDEE AKI 6 Abrasive as ever but the Wallabies were not unduly troubled. Uncertaint­y led to a bad turnover that gave the Aussies crucial momentum. His game lacks nuance.

11 JACOB STOCKDALE 6 No try this time and could not match Folau in the air but the Ulsterman was a threat – one that should have been used more.

10 JOEY CARBERY 6 Plenty of nice footballin­g touches but did not truly impose himself upon the game. Jury still out on whether he is a viable starter.

9 CONOR MURRAY 6 The Munster man does not do bad games but he was under pressure in this one from concerted and aggressive Wallaby attention and could not wield his customary control.

1 JACK McGRATH 6 A solid outing for the Lions loosehead with the scrum holding up well and some decent, if not spectacula­r, carrying.

2 ROB HERRING 6 Impressive­ly accurate in the lineout and lively in the loose with some decent carries – however involved in two needless turnovers.

3 JOHN RYAN 6 Like fellow prop McGrath, the Corkman put in a decent shift and proved he can do a job at this level to put pressure on Andrew Porter for the Tadhg Furlong back-up role.

4 IAIN HENDERSON 5 A disappoint­ing, error-strewn outing. Inconsiste­ncy is becoming a theme for a player who can be hugely influentia­l on his day or largely listless as he was in Brisbane.

5 JAMES RYAN 8 The winning run may be gone but the streak of world-class performanc­es by the 21-year-old continues. Ireland’s best player by a margin.

6 PETER O’MAHONY 7 Like the great Richard Hill, O’Mahony’s worth is best realised when he is not there. When the captain went off, the game got away.

7 JORDI MURPHY 5 Murphy has had a fine season with Leinster but this was a notable step up from club rugby and Murphy could not live with the PocockHoop­er double combo.

8 CJ STANDER 5 The South African did superbly to break the line but failing to properly ground the ball was inexcusabl­e. Otherwise had little impact – Jack Conan should get his chance now.

REPLACEMEN­TS SEAN CRONIN 5, CIAN HEALY 5, TADHG FURLONG 5 – Experience­d front row were minced in scrum when brought on for impact. QUINN ROUX 5 – Touted as a great ‘tighthead second row scrummager’, the South African didn’t show it, or anything else. JACK CONAN 6 – Put himself about as much as he could and deserves to start in Melbourne. KIERAN MARMION 6 – Injected noticeable pace into Ireland’s play late on. JOHNNY SEXTON 5 – Not used to coming off the bench and despite some strong plays, the missed penalty to the corner was damaging. JORDAN LARMOUR 6 – Belongs at this level, the trick is to get him on the ball more.

JOE SCHMIDT 6 His team had 60 per cent possession and territory but did not pose a consistent threat. Expect a marked improvemen­t in Melbourne as Schmidt sets his homework this week.

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