RUGBY/ AUTUMN INTERNATIONALS: A FIRST draw in 28 meetings between the countries left Australia the more disappointed, Ireland the more relieved, for as draws go, this one didn't leave the home team or crowd nearly as hollow as their visitors.

To emerge unbeaten from a game in which they trailed for all but seven minutes was a worthy achievement in the circumstances, and a tribute to this Irish team’s self belief, character and, ultimately, skill.

Though rusty they nonetheless kept coming and with the last play of the game manufactured a superb scrum move straight off the training ground for Brian O’Driscoll to score his 37th try for Ireland and 38th in Test rugby. O’Gara’s conversion made it 20-20. Cometh his 100th Test, cometh the man. Who writes this guy’s scripts anyway?

“I think draws in rugby are a strange sort of event,” admitted head coach Declan Kidney. “Two minutes before the end of the game I’d have taken it obviously. I think the one thing you can’t coach is attitude and I think we showed that in bucketfulls to come back after a fair chunk of the game – some of it is credit to Australia, some of it is through the pressure we put ourselves – didn’t go our way. But we stuck with it and we got a draw, so it’s one of those strange feelings; a bit numb. You’re glad you haven’t lost and you’re disappointed you haven’t won.”

That John Hayes was obliged to play the full 80 minutes and held up the final scrum from which Ireland scored – albeit possibly on one knee – is a debate for another day about the paucity of options there. Kidney would have felt vindicated by the end game in making relatively scant use of his bench when others in his position probably would, though one of the two substitutions he did make was forced on him by, sadly, a serious knee injury to Luke Fitzgerald.

“Luke’s gone off to get a scan on his knee. Usually with these things it will be 24 to 48 hours before it settles down fully and we’ll know more then. Other than that I would only be guessing.”

When they reflect on this game, Ireland will regard it as a decidedly mixed bag of a performance.

“You’re always hoping to hit the ground running and we didn’t exactly do that,” admitted the Irish coach.

“There’s plenty of areas we need to brush up on. They’ll probably do the whole range, winning the ball, how to hang on to it.”

Kidney reflected on the fact that Ireland had more possession but spent more time in their own territory, something which is anathema to his coaching beliefs.

That being said, it was striking how much Ireland were prepared to play heads-up rugby by comparison to the much more patterned Wallabies, and mindful that if Ireland stand still they’ll be overtaken on the European front, never mind make inroads into the world’s top three, the Irish coach wasn’t of a mind to be critical of his players’ sense of ambition.

“They played a very smart game in keeping the pressure on us. They had a few missed penalties, whereas we went for things in the first-half as well too, so I’d be pleased with the fact that we went for things. If we didn’t go for things we won’t grow and we won’t find out more about ourselves. It’s a case of getting that mixture right.”

Whereas Ireland’s eight-game match-winning run had been ended, Australia’s first attempt at a Grand Slam since Mark Ella’s tourists of 1984 was also foiled. Robbie Deans isn’t the most effusive of coaches at the best of times, and Rocky Elsom is far less forthcoming when faced by a phalanx of microphones or cameras, but they could hardly have more taciturn if they’d been walloped.

“Clearly it’s a game that we could and probably should, have won,” lamented Deans. “That Ireland were still within seven points was a critical element. We played enough rugby and had enough opportunities to get beyond that and when you’re playing a side that has the maturity and belief that this (Irish) side has, to leave the door ajar, they’ve got the persistence to come back and save their skins.”

Ireland will undoubtedly spend time on the training ground endeavouring to improve ball presentation away from the body and to the rucks with more venom.

Not quite the homecoming of sorts for the newly minted Grand Slam champions which the crowd wanted but the feeling lurks that Ireland will be better for this match.