On Friday I noted the key to Ireland's success was high-tempo, low-error rugby. This of course was partly true, especially as Ireland rattled up 17 quickfire points. With that tempo, gaps and opportunities presented themselves, such as on six minutes and 54 seconds Conor Murray stole a great fringe on an Australia defensive lapse. As stated, Australia's scrumhalf has a unique defensive role where he loiters 15 yards behind breakdowns as a sweeper. The point of attack and pace of the recycle allowed Murray to slide down the fringe.
The irony for Australia in committing Nick Phipps to this no-man's land sweeping role was his inability to prevent Simon Zebo scoring a cracking try. Cracking? Yes, for many reasons but most notably for Ireland's ability to transition from defence into attack. Devin Toner stood Luke Jones up, with Australia clearly conscious of the Irish choke tactic. Jones panicked and gifted the hard-working Rory Best possession. But to convert that gift into seven points takes some exploiting the Australian weakness, finding green grass through a clever Johnny Sexton kick with Zebo's speed hunting it down.
Hunting
With only moments left on the clock, speed and courage in the Irish number five jersey was again hunting and this time it was Wallaby number eight, Ben McCalman whom Paul O’Connell smashed miles behind the gainline to lift his team and the whole stadium.
Of course the first big hit of the day was equally special. This time Zebo charged with a very fast Irish line of defence but it was Zebo’s defensive decisions that marked a special performance.
Decoy runner
The hits took place in the first and last minutes of the match. From Australia’s first off-the- top lineout, to the tail, three passes, with one decoy runner in midfield to fix Ireland a tad, had
Tevita Kuridrani
on the 15-metre line running hard to receive. Zebo spotted the danger of
Michael Hooper
, McCalman and the wonderful
Henry Speight
outside Kuridrani. The game was barely on and Zebo was alive to the threat and crucially made decisions based on the enormous variety of questions being asked.
Having beaten them, what can we learn from the Wallabies? Even with the score 17-0 in our favour I couldn’t help but be sucked in by their play; especially their ability to create doubt in the defending chain of three. Ireland’s first three points came from Hooper carrying out wide, ball in two hands and targeting Rory Best’s outside shoulder and Peter O’Mahony’s inside shoulder. It worked as Best came in to cut Hooper down O’Mahony checked his line and stepped in also. Ireland worked brilliantly on the deck to get the penalty, but it was an early omen that the Wallabies, regardless of shirt number, were going to make Ireland make decisions, and where decisions and fatigue cohabit errors occur.
Israel Folau popped up off Matt Toomua, who had four green jerseys in his face, but Folau sensing the chink in the defence ran a line, like Hopper earlier, in the space outside O'Connell and inside Sexton forcing Sexton to step and create space for McCalman to run into. They are all equally brilliant at this two versus one rugby, lingering with the ball long enough to create defensive doubt. Clearly the arrival of Quade Cooper brings this skill to its most ridiculous level, allowing slightly lesser lights like McCalman reap huge rewards running those support lines.
Australia's ability to hide weaknesses is also impressive. We knew that outhalf Bernard Foley is hidden defensively, where he has been slotted into a blindside winger role off opposition lineouts, but on Saturday he went a step further and anchored in the hooker slot at the front of the lineout. It's such a pity Ireland didn't expose him beyond the two tackles he made (six in total over Australia's three matches) by sending some beef down the tram tracks as he hid out of sight and danger.
Flipside
The flipside to this Australian tactic is the role Hooper plays post lineout. As he was in the defensive 10 slot, he was much closer to the evolving action than
Rhys Ruddock
could be and Hooper did some damage, slowing down Ireland’s flow out in midfield.
In fact the concept of high-tempo, error-free rugby became an issue post Tommy Bowe’s try; in what was a 14-point swing in Ireland’s favour the pace ebbed away. This forced Ireland into a more static one-up approach, forcing tackles but none of the threat that Australia imposed. Pace of game should not be confused with “Barbarian globetrotting rugby”. As we slowed the play Australia were allowed to find their rhythm in both attack and, crucially, defence. In doing so they racked up 20 unanswered points, which will provide much food for thought in the video room. Suffice to say it’s ironic that Phipps got Australia’s first try having been instrumental in both of Ireland’s but, like Hooper and Folau before him, Phipps carried the ball in both hands and had three Irish defenders swinging in his wake.
Finally, as our thoughts drift away from a brilliant November, conscious of Joe Schmidt's current challenge, I think not just of him recuperating from surgery but also of Mike Ross, who as a tighthead returning from injury deserves some credit for putting in the three monster shifts. liamtoland@yahoo.com
