Ireland edge mammoth match-up with Australia

Ireland 26 Australia 23

Sometimes victory comes down to an indomitable will, a sheer bloody mindedness, that drags bludgeoned, aching bodies to defend a few metres of turf. Ireland’s thin green line did just that in the final throes of a pulsating contest, a wonderful spectacle that embodied all that is good and enthralling about sport and ultimately represented a credit to both teams.

The noisy exultation from the majority of supporters at the Aviva stadium that acclaimed Ireland’s victory represented an outpouring of pent-up emotion, an explosion of nervous tension. Three wins from as many matches, two against the southern hemisphere behemoths.

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Ireland’s Jonathan Sexton kicks a second half penalty against Australia at the Aviva Stadium. Photograph: James Crombie / Inpho

As a match it had everything, the opening 40 minutes contained five tries, the second half, a never ending series of brutally physical collisions.

The euphemism about players laying their bodies on the line wasn’t an abstract notion. Four Ireland players - Gordon D’Arcy, Conor Murray Jonathan Sexton and Rob Kearney - left the pitch with concussion-like symptoms.

Murray returned to see out the game at outhalf as the Irish backline contained only three players - Robbie Henshaw, Simon Zebo and Tommy Bowe - who were playing in their original positions.

Ireland’s bravery was epitomised by their captain Paul O’Connell. He was a colossus, producing an extraordinary performance; lung-bursting carrying and teak-tough tackling, characterised by one seismic game changing hit on Ben McCalman late on. He was a lightning rod for his team and his pack.

Peter O’Mahony, Rory Best and Rhys Ruddock competed ferociously, as did the Irish eight to a man.

Everyone contributed and they had to because the Australian eight played with a physicality that was an embodiment of the values that their coach Michael Cheika champions. They were the more skilful, inventive side behind the scrum, recovering from an early 17-point deficit. If outhalf Bernard Foley hadn’t missed a couple of conversions he’d have expected to get, they might have been rewarded with a victory.

Simon Zebo had his best game in an Ireland jersey, Tommy Bowe excelled too in his work-rate, while Sexton’s place-kicking; particularly two wonderful second half penalties that provided the difference on the scoreboard.

Ireland coach Joe Schmidt will be proud of the way his team refused to buckle, the spirit and the work ethic in the second half, but he won’t be blinded to the shortcomings. Ireland were opened up too easily behind the scrum, they forced passes, kicked poorly at times and were careless in game management at others. The scrum creaked a little as well and they were outplayed at the breakdown.

Credit must go to Australia, to players like Michael Hooper, Rob Simmons and Saia Fainga’a, in particular, who were a real handful, giving their side quicker ruck ball, while the visitors’ nuanced attacking patterns and ability to conjure line breaks was impressive. The fact that Ireland regrouped and shut them down after the interval was a huge transition in momentum.

The opening 40 minutes proved a white knuckle ride, a cornucopia of thrills, spills, moments of controversy and five tries; so much to savour except perhaps for the defence coaches Les Kiss (Ireland) and Nathan Grey (Australia), who were probably looking on with jaws clenched in exasperation.

Ireland got the perfect start, 17 points to the good, but the home supporters then watched as the Wallabies scored 20 answered points, the delirium of the opening 15 minutes for the green shirted players evaporating into a mini-horror show.

The Australians managed one try from a rather fortuitous turnover, a second that was questionable, but there was no doubt that the quality of their attacking patterns – they ripped through Ireland around the 13 channel, inside and outside – merited a reward and the scoreboard.

The Irish line had a charmed existence on one or two occasions and the home side’s second try came from an intercept by Tommy Bowe 12 metres from his line; Australia didn’t have a monopoly on good fortune in the half.

Ireland’s halfbacks, Murray and Sexton, who started the game so brightly, hallmarked by a precision and calm assurance, lost control in the second 20 minutes, kicking injudiciously and guilty of some questionable game management. The homeside fell off tackles, which allowed the visitors the line breaks they craved and the Wallabies were lethal through the initial breach.

It was a far cry from the opening quarter when Ireland held on to possession with captain O’Connell and Rhys Ruddock, in particular, carrying repeatedly; a minor cavil was occasionally lateral rather than forward progress, particularly when they went to shift the ball in the backline.

Gordon’ D’Arcy’s quick feet turned slop into something more palatable several times.

Sexton kicked a superb opening penalty and although he missed a second opportunity to bring to an end a sequence of seven successive successful place-kicks, his next practical intervention with the boot was a gorgeous punt, against the grain, that allowed Simon Zebo outpace Australia scrumhalf Nick Phipps to the ball and score a superbly worked try.

It got even better for the home side three minutes later, albeit from the most unpromising of circumstances. Tevita Kuirdrani had orchestrated a line break and the visitors seemed certain to score but a thunderous man-and-ball tackle two phases later, initially stopped the numerical overload and then Bowe read Phipps’s pass, intercepting and running in from 80 metres.

Sexton converted and at 17-0, Ireland looked set fair, but the game changed in an instant, this time with Ireland on the attack. Henshaw won a superb high ball, but Zebo’s intended offload to Sexton was batted back by Aussie outhalf Foley, Phipps was quickest on to the loose ball and escaped several despairing Irish tacklers to race 60 metres.

Foley converted and within five minutes had a try of his own. Debutant Henry Speight won a cross-kick – Kearney did well to keep him out – and although Phipps’s subsequent pass looked forward and Foley’s grounding short, the television match official Eric Gauzins gave a try after referee Glen Jackson asked if there was any reason why he couldn’t, given that he was happy with the grounding.

Foley couldn’t add the conversion, or the extra points but Australia claimed their third try and Phipps’s second, after the outhalf shrugged off Devin Toner to engineer the definitive break.

Foley kicked a penalty, Sexton responded in kind and a breathless first half came to an end.

If the first half was a homily to running rugby the second was dominated by more primal fare, as both sides carried and tackled with equal aggression. The spaces and line breaks were harder to come by and every yard, other than those gained by kicking, was earned.

Sexton kicked a penalty on 45 minutes, Foley responded on 48 minutes and at that stage it seemed ridiculous to think that there would only be one more score in the game.

It came through the boot of Sexton in the 63rd minute, another great strike from long range.

Momentum ebbed and flowed, benches emptied on both sides, the pitch occasionally festooned with prone players. On one occasion Ireland defended with 13 players following a clash of heads between Kearney and Sexton inside their 22.

The final throes saw wave after wave of Wallaby attacks, repulsed by green clad defenders.

Ireland’s discipline deserves massive praise, as does the courage of the players in making the tackles. A penalty at a scrum, a turnover in a tackle, small margins in those game defining moments but ones to take forward.

It was a victory to savour, the warts and all.

Scoring sequence

4 mins: Sexton penalty, 3-0; 11: Zebo try, Sexton conversion, 10-0; 14: Bowe try, Sexton conversion, 17-0; 17: Phipps try, Foley conversion, 17-7; 22: Foley try, 17-12; 30: Phipps try, 17-1; 35: Foley penalty, 17-20; 40(+2): Sexton penalty, 20-20. Half-time: 20-20. 45: Sexton penalty, 23-20; 48: Foley penalty, 23-23; 63: Sexton penalty, 26-23;

Ireland

: R Kearney; T Bowe, R Henshaw, G D’Arcy, S Zebo; J Sexton, C Murray; J McGrath, R Best, M Ross; P O’Connell (capt), D Toner; P O’Mahony, R Ruddock, J Heaslip.

Replacements

: I Madigan for D’Arcy 58 mins; D Foley for Toner 61 mins; S Cronin for Best 67 mins; E Reddan for Murray 70-75 mins; F Jones for Kearney 77 mins; Reddan for Sexton 77 mins.

Australia

: I Folau; A Ashley Cooper, T Kuridrani, M Toomua, H Speight; B Foley, N Phipps; J Slipper, S Fainga’a, S Kepu; S Carter, R Simmons; L Jones, M Hooper (capt), B McCalman.

Replacements

: K Beale for Kuridrani 45 mins; J Schatz for Jones 53 mins; Q Cooper for Foley 64 mins; W Genia for Phipps 68 mins; J Hanson for Fainga’a 70 mins; B Robinson for Kepu 70 mins; W Skelton for Carter 71 mins.

Referee

: Glen Jackson (New Zealand)