Simon Zebo flies home for Ireland’s opening try

by Paul Cook –

The Wallabies have lost their second match in a row on the Spring Tour, going down 26-23 in Dublin to a well organised and resolute Ireland.

Down 17-0 after only quarter of an hour, the Wallabies can take some solace from the way they fought back into contention to be 20-all at the break. But a tighter second half went down to the wire with penalties the name of the game and one example too many of ill discipline from the visitor’s allowed Jonny Sexton to outpoint Bernard Foley and secure a clean sweep in November as Ireland look ahead to next year’s World Cup.

The home side came into the match off the back of eight wins from their last nine games as well as victory over the Springboks a fortnight ago, and were keen to prove that their newly acquired ranking as the 3rd best team in the world was no statistical anomaly.

Tearing out of the blocks, they bamboozled the Wallaby defence with aggression, power, precision and a kicking barrage led by flyhalf Sexton. Their endeavour, as it did against South Africa, unsettled Australia and forced a number of early mistakes, newcomer Luke Jones in particular guilty of a couple of poor decisions.

When Michael Hooper was pinned under a maul just inside his own 10 metre line, Sexton stepped up to despatch the opening points but the star pivot’s radar was unusually errant three minutes later, after James Slipper was rightly pinged for taking Irish fullback Rob Kearney, in the air.

Significant Irish pressure at the breakdown, coupled with lightning line speed, was smothering the Wallaby attack before it had gained any momentum and as the hosts ramped things up a notch, keen to make good on their early dominance, it was off a turnover made in Australia that they plundered the opening try.

Ireland’s assistant coach, Les Kiss, a former Kangaroo and part of the Waratahs’ coaching team under Ewen McKenzie through the 2000’s, patented the infamous ‘choke’ tackle back in 2011, a ploy that contributed hugely to the Wallabies’ downfall in their World Cup loss to Ireland that year.

Jonny Sexton offered up another kicking masterclass to keep the Wallabies on the back foot

Still a potent weapon, Luke Jones played into Irish hands again in the 11th minute by going into contact far too high. Green jerseys swarmed in to hold him up and force a turnover, the ball was recycled back to Sexton who put an inch perfect kick into the corner and the speedy Simon Zebo arrived on cue to pluck from the air and dive home.

Things got worse for the visitor’s straight from the restart. Having put together their best attacking phase of the game thus far, the Wallabies had worked a three man overlap and a certain try on the left flank. However, Nick Phipps’ last pass was read by Irish wing Tommy Bowe, who latched onto it and ran a full 70 metres to score, every step roared on by a jubilant Aviva Stadium crowd.

Sexton’s conversion made it 17-0 after 16 minutes but despite the setback, Australia must have taken heart from the way they had worked a try scoring position. It was now a question of backing themselves to do it again and getting back into the game.

As it was, they were presented with a gift of their own to gain a foothold and stop the Irish flow. Another bomb from the sky from Sexton had the Wallabies in disarray but as Ireland moved it wide, a Bernard Foley tap down fell into the arms of Phipps and the scrumhalf dummied, stepped and suddenly found himself in open field and with just enough pace to see him home for a crucial riposte.

Fortune had firmly switched the way of the Wallabies when they grabbed another as the game entered the second quarter. A crossfield kick from Bernard Foley looked to have put Henry Speight in for his first international try but for a superb tackle from fullback Kearney. However, the cavalry arrived and when Phipps fed inside to his halves partner, Foley appeared to have squirmed and twisted his way to the chalk.

Referee Glen Jackson wasn’t convinced but when the replays were shown, it wasn’t the grounding that was in question it was the validity of the pass from Phipps that was the deal breaker. Clearly forward, there was palpable disbelief around the ground when Jackson raised his arm to signal the try.

If they had gotten lucky with their second try, there was no questioning the sheer brilliance of the Wallabies’ third on the half hour. Running from deep, some razzle dazzle down the touchline from Ben McCalman, Speight and Foley got them on the front foot and when the ball came infield, Matt Toomua put Foley through a gap and the flyhalf had the ubiquitous Phipps backing up on his inside to run in for his second. Terrific stuff.

Captain Michael Hooper contemplates a second successive loss for the Wallabies

A second missed conversion from Foley cost the tourists a lead but Irish eyes were no longer smiling, more glazed in disbelief at the sudden disappearance of their healthy advantage. Foley and Sexton duly traded penalties in the shadows of half-time and as the teams trudged to the sheds at 20-all after an exhilarating opening forty, the Wallabies had seemingly rescued a dire situation while Ireland perhaps needed to find a Plan B.

A long range penalty from Sexton after the break re-established Ireland’s advantage before an ankle injury to Tevita Kuridrani forced another upset to Australia’s rhythm. But it did give coach Cheika a chance to unleash Kurtley Beale back into the fray for his first game time since his well documented disciplinary issues.

A scrum penalty – not a regular occurrence in recent Wallaby history – allowed Foley to regain parity on the scoreboard and as the game progressed towards the hour mark, it was finely balanced with mistakes looking more likely to decide the outcome rather than individual brilliance. Ireland had put their kicking barrage to bed for now but were still happy to attack every breakdown with gusto and feed off errors. The Wallabies, with Beale in tow, looked more dangerous with ball in hand but were struggling to get much change from an Irish wall of defenders.

A speculative but sublime 45 metre drop goal attempt from Rob Kearney spanked off an upright in the 61st minute but sixty seconds later, Sexton was offered a more conventional kicking route to the posts after the Wallabies erred at the breakdown once again. He didn’t need a second invitation.

Quade Cooper was given the chance to try and bring this one home for Australia, replacing Foley with 15 to go, and he was soon joined by his partner in crime for Queensland, Will Genia, as coach Cheika began to empty his bench.

A pivotal scrum with just under 10 to go re-illustrated the improvement that is still required for this Wallaby pack to make serious inroads at next year’s World Cup, a perfect attacking platform lost when Ireland applied enough pressure to prevent hooker James Hanson from getting the requisite strike and the ball failing to come out in time as a result.

The inventive trio of Beale, Cooper and Genia did their best to find a breakthrough in the closing stages but despite plenty of possession, there was a bit too much East-West and not enough North as Ireland’s defence stood up manfully to the task at hand.

One final turnover in the last minute ensured a second Irish win in three weeks over Southern Hemisphere opposition as their stock continues to rise. For the Wallabies, back-to-back defeats on tour is a rarity and with Twickenham and England beckoning next weekend for what is their last hit-out of 2014, rarely has a match against the Old Dart assumed so much significance.

Ireland 26 (Simon Zebo, Tommy Bowe tries; Jonny Sexton 2 cons, 4 pens) defeated Australia 23 (Nick Phipps 2, Bernard Foley tries; Bernard Foley con, 2 pens)