RUGBY/Ireland v Australia: It's always advisable to kill the hosts with kindness on tour - ask South Africa coach Jake White - and in keeping with their stated belief that Ireland will provide them with their toughest match of a four-Test, seven-game tour, the Wallabies think-tank have restored Stephen Larkham to his natural position of outhalf. At a stroke, with the creative genius of Larkham at 10, Australia look more recognisable and potent.
Admittedly, the experimentation with the gifted centre-cum-outhalf Matt Giteau at scrumhalf continues, while another shift in position in their continuing search for more versatility sees strike runner Stirling Mortlock move to inside centre in what the Aussie spin department have labelled a monster midfield with Lote Tuqiri.
His position on the wing goes to Mark Gerrard, who came through a trying night with Australia A at Thomond Park on Wednesday night at outhalf.
The man to miss out is Mat Rogers, who had been tried in an unfamiliar outhalf role in the draw with Wales and hard-earned 25-18 win away to Italy last Saturday. He had pleaded to retain the position. Whatever else, the Wallabies management don't pigeonhole their backs into specialist positions.
Up front, the one confirmed change sees Phil Waugh regain the openside slot from George Smith in their ever-changing, rotational contest for the number seven jersey. Hooker Brendan Cannon, who had surgery on his neck in April, is a doubt after suffering a neck strain in Rome. He is expected to play, but if not Tai McIsaac. Either way Stephen Moore will be back-up hooker.
Wallabies head coach John Connolly maintained the selection of a new centre pairing was not necessarily aimed at countering the highly-rated Brian O'Driscoll-Gordon D'Arcy axis and was something they had earmarked from the outset of the tour.
Mortlock is seen essentially as a strike runner, according to assistant/skills coach Scott Johnson, but they believed his under-appreciated distribution could flourish in his new role. "This midfield was always one we wanted to look at," said Connolly. "It was something we had to look and as the experimentation with Giteau at halfback was forced upon us with the injury to Sam Cordingly we didn't want to try everything at once."
Connolly is particularly pleased with Giteau's development at scrumhalf, and his versatility, if nothing else, could enable Connolly to only pick two specialist scrumhalves in his World Cup squad. "Considering he hasn't played there for five years and has never played there in senior rugby, he's adapted pretty well. He's got good vision, mentally he's a very tough little guy - he's very much like (Tim) Horan.
"We thought this would be the toughest (match), by some distance. We think Irish rugby is in a pretty good space at the moment. I think they're very well organised, they've come back from tour and had a great preparation, they've targeted these Tests and they've got no injuries," said Connolly. "Teams go through this space every two years or so, their senior players are on fire and at the moment they're in as good a space as they've ever been in Irish rugby."
Australia have won their last four meetings with Ireland, the last two convincingly, but Connolly says this Irish team is unrecognisable from a year ago, while retaining 14 of the same starting line-up that played twice against the All Blacks for the Perth Test last summer was "tough".
"I suppose Eddie O'Sullivan, with a couple of changes he's made, is doing what we're doing," he said, adding: "You need a squad of 30 players" with the demands of modern rugby.
Bearing in mind this week's inclement climate, Australia appear particularly mindful of the rainswept autumnal defeat at Lansdowne Road four years ago when Ronan O'Gara kicked Ireland to an 18-9 win.
"The conditions will be tough and the Irish play very well to the conditions in the Northern Hemisphere," commented Connolly. "We will need to adapt to the conditions and play accordingly, but I think we should see a very entertaining Test between two evenly matched teams. If the conditions are wet, Gerrard gives us that third kicking option in the back three," Connolly observed, "and Matt Giteau gives us a good kicking game at scrumhalf."
Of his team's development, Connolly pointed out they were within a score in their last two Tri-Nations meetings with the all-conquering All Blacks, "and the last game was a particularly high standard", and while happier with the performance in Wales last Saturday week than in Rome, he maintained: "As a team we're not too far away."
