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Sam Bruce, Deputy Editor, espn.com.au
Ireland denied Australia a winning finish to their spring tour in Dublin, but it took every inch of effort to grind down a Wallabies team that defended bravely and very nearly rounded out a resurgent year on the best possible note.
It finished 22-19 at the Aviva Stadium as Ireland marked their 150-year anniversary with a come-from-behind win and closed out a 3-1 autumn campaign, their only blemish a poor first-up outing against the All Blacks.
The three-point defeat meant Australia finished their four-match grand slam tour at 2-2, and their 2024 season record closes at 6-7.
While they would have dearly loved to have secured a drought-breaking win in Dublin, the Wallabies have shown more than enough over the past four weeks to suggest they can mount a serious challenge against the British & Irish Lions next year.
Certainly if they bring the same defensive intent and shape they did on Saturday night, and can recapture some of the sparkling attack they showed against England and Wales, then the Wallabies will be right in the contest with the Lions next July.
Unfortunately for Australia in Dublin, the sheer weight of their defensive workload and lack of territory eventually took its toll. The visitors also went into their shell on the attacking side of the ball in the second 40, the Wallabies unable to clear their own half with any great conviction.
Having led 13-5 at the break following a converted try to Max Jorgensen and two penalties for Noah Lolesio, Australia could not threaten the Irish line at any stage during the second half. The hosts had 76% of the territory by the end of the match, second-half tries to skipper Caelan Doris and replacement hooker Gus McCarthy proving the difference.
“I think it was the mountain of possession and territory they had, but the grit that our boys showed was really impressive,” Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt said postmatch. “I felt they got off the line and defended for long phases and we were perhaps a little unlucky a few times on the ball, but I just admired the way they worked so hard.
“First half I thought we deserved the lead, we made a number of linebreaks and finished one with a try, got a couple of penalties off others. So it was nip and tuck there, but Ireland, boy, they know how to put the squeeze on you and they muscled up in that second half.”
Earlier, the Wallabies had their defence and some sloppy Irish play to thank for their eight-point half-time lead.
While the hosts did cross the line through Josh van der Flier, who answered Jorgensen’s earlier try with a hard-running charge from close range, Ireland were otherwise let down by some sloppy handling and inaccuracy from their set-piece.
On one occasion, after fly-half Ian Prendergast had peeled off a mammoth gain to put his side just seven metres out from the line, the Irish forwards butchered their lineout call and Australia were able to clear a few moments later.
Australia, meanwhile, were superior at the breakdown, with Fraser McReight in the thick of the action after he sat out last week’s loss to Scotland. The Queensland No. 7 also popped up as a key link man and ball-carrier on the counter, where he received assistance from both Nick Frost and Harry Wilson, the Wallabies duo creating an opportunity that almost saw Andrew Kellaway touch down out wide later in the first half.
But it was the Wallabies’ defence that deserved much of the credit as they went to sheds up 13-5, time and time again Australia were able to hold their line and the trust in their system to limit Ireland’s attacking advances.
Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, who departed last week’s clash early with a wrist injury, meanwhile played a key role in Jorgensen’s five-pointer. With Jake Gordon going to the air immediately after a lineout win, Suaalii was able to pressure the contest and then win the loose ball, his offload freeing up Tom Wright and Kellaway again, before the ball came back to the opposite corner where the fullback again handled under pressure to put his winger over after 20 minutes.
The moment of the first half was Taniela Tupou’s intercept however, with the prop making a bold play that eventually brought the Wallabies a further three points. Had Tupou not regathered, then he could have well found himself in the sin-bin, but after he plucked the ball out of the air and took off downfield, Australia were then able to scramble back a penalty when the prop’s offload had gone awry.
But that scramble was a continued theme for the Wallabies throughout the 80 minutes and eventually something had to give.
With Ireland virtually camped within Australia’s for what seemed like the entirety of the second stanza, the pressure eventually told as the hosts rode some favourable refereeing decisions to close within metres of the Wallabies’ line, and then used their maul to score two second-half tries, the first of which saw Doris touch down beneath the sticks after the ball was shifted immediately from the set-piece platform. The fact that a blatant knock-on was missed in the lead-up to that sequence will be cold little comfort for Australia.
On the balance of proceedings, though, it was the hosts who deserved to come away with the win and the Landsdowne Cup. The three-point victory also ensured veteran prop Cian Healy marked his record-breaking night as the most-capped Ireland player of all time on the right note.
Next up for the hosts is the Six Nations, where they will be favourites to lift the trophy alongside France, who went undefeated through their own November campaign. Ireland will of course be without coach Andy Farrell, whose focus now shifts to his role as Lions boss.
“Just to keep going. The plan is we all know where we’re going with our game and that we kick on in the Six Nations, and that’s what we expect of ourselves all the time. So nothing changes,” Farrell said when asked what he wanted to see from Ireland’s Lions hopefuls.
For Australia, meanwhile, it is time to rest some weary bodies and then shift focus to what is the biggest Test series in Australia in 12 years.
While the Wallabies finish the year with a winning percentage a tick under 50%, what they have done in recent weeks, and earlier in the year too, is restore pride in a jersey that was destroyed to the point of near ruin during the malaise of the Eddie Jones debacle.
Schmidt has brought through a host of new players who will be better for the experiences of 2024, while Rob Valetini, Fraser McReight, Len Ikitau and Tom Wright have gone to new levels all together. Lolesio, who was perfect from the boot in Dublin, has also established himself as Schmidt’s man at No. 10.
Armed with a playing style that is both attractive and efficient, with a competent young leader in Harry Wilson, the Wallabies picked up the pieces and put in the building blocks of a team that can improve further in 2025.
Are the Wallabies back, then?
“We just got to keep rolling, keep working,” Fraser McReight said postmatch.
Keep rolling indeed.
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