Wallabies suffer another late loss
Ireland edge dour test as ill discipline again proves costly for Australian side
At the end of one the cagiest, strangest and minimalist tests, Ireland finally did enough to end a triumphant year with a third win of the month, if not a third high.
This was a proper game of chess; something which, at times, would have been more riveting. Sixty-five minutes in, the score remained 3-3. And when Bundee Aki barged over, it seemed as if Andy Farrell’s side, finally, had done enough.
But Australia hit back through the pace of Jordan Petaia and the hosts needed a late penalty from replacement Ross Byrne to seal the deal.
With seconds remaining, however, Australia came within metres of nicking it, before their Achilles heel, discipline, condemned them to a third consecutive loss.
Ireland were clearly disrupted by the loss of talismanic captain Johnny Sexton in the warm-up. The captain’s calf injury meant that 22-year-old Jack Crowley made his first start for Ireland — after just 20 professional appearances — and Byrne came onto the bench. While it is harsh to blame Crowley for Ireland’s clunkiness considering his inexperience and the suddenness of the disruption, how Ireland missed their lynchpin.
“Never in doubt,” joked Farrell. “We’ll learn from it. The bigger picture stuff is that Australia made it an absolute dog fight but us still finding a way is a hallmark of a good side.”
Australia coach Dave Rennie said: “A huge amount of character but frustrated because we had our opportunities. Gutted — because it was very winnable.”
Australia’s European tour has been pock-marked by indiscipline, a thorn which showed no sign of removal yesterday. The Wallabies, with Ireland reeling, had an early Nic White try ruled out due to a neck-roll from Dave Porecki before the Australia hooker was at it again. Porecki’s hands in the ruck gave Crowley an easy sighter and Ireland took the lead.
The Wallabies’ attraction to Irish necks descended from flirtatious to positively vampiric as the first half progressed. After three more neckroll infringements, Kiwi referee Ben O’Keeffe had no choice but to send replacement hooker Folau Fainga’a to the sin bin.
Ireland had their disciplinary woes, too, epitomising their unwieldy display. Caelan Doris’ offside gave Bernard Foley the chance to even the scores but he couldn’t deliver.
Foley’s miss meant that, after some mammoth defence from White prevented an Irish driving-maul try, Ireland took a three-point lead into the interval despite the Wallabies having dominated both territory and possession.
With the on-field ambience growing increasingly fractious — with both indiscipline and scoreboard edginess contributing to the syncopation — Australia’s belief grew.
Incredibly, too, when Taniela
Tupou gave Andrew Porter a roughing up at the scrum, after 55 minutes, the scores were level, with Foley this time on target.
After Aki and Petaia traded tries, Byrne’s late penalty for a scrum indiscretion sent Ireland into 2023 buoyed by the positivity of victory, if not of attainment. Meanwhile, the Wallabies head to Cardiff needing a win to avoid equalling their worst calendar year of the professional era.