Irish Echo Sport

by Aaron Dunne in Melbourne

Michael Bradley’s reign as interim Irish coach came to a disappointing close as a far from brilliant Wallabies side got the Robbie Deans’ era under way with a hard-fought, if largely uninspiring, victory.

Ireland meanwhile, with Bradley at the helm for the last time, were again left to ponder what might have been.

A late onslaught on the Wallabies’ line proved fruitless as the visitors went in search of the converted try that would have seen them claim their first win on Aussie soil since 1979. But in the end it was two Matt Giteau penalties that proved decisive as the Aussies regained the Lansdowne Cup.

The defeat in Melbourne’s Telstra Dome brought to a close a long and trying season for the Irish players. Without players of the ilk of David Wallace, Luke Fitzgerald, Gordan D’Arcy and Irish player of the year Andrew Trimble, things were always going to be tough, but in the end it was fundamental handling errors that proved costly as Robbie Deans’ side held on for a gutsy, if somewhat undeserved, win.

The Fields of Athenry was belting out around the stadium within five minutes, but the Wallabies had the perfect tonic to lift the golden majority of the 41,478 in the crowd as Berrick Barnes scored a telling try from the Wallabies’ very first attack.

Winger Lote Tuqiri made a break down the left hand side before a sublime offload set Barnes away to get the Aussies off to the perfect start. Giteau failed to convert, but the Wallabies had got the start they wanted.

Ireland’s traditional kicking game had seemingly been left back in Wellington as Bradley gave his side carte blanche to move the ball through the hands in the dry conditions. This they did at every available opportunity, but passes seemed to be missing their targets as the Wallabies defence soaked up what was thrown at them.

Ireland’s two stand out performers on the day, Jamie Heaslip and Rob Kearney, combined to break the Aussie line 15 minutes in, the attacking drive securing an Irish line-out inside the Wallaby 22.

Hooker Rory Best was accurate with the throw, and the Irish gathered and drove for the line. A massive roar of ‘heave’ rose up from the travelling  faithful in the grandstands and the Irish pack duly drove the Wallabies back over the line as Denis Leamy came up with the ball to bring the sides level.

O’Gara kicked the conversion, and Ireland were well and truly on top.

The Wallabies had scored their only try from their one and only attack of the game, and they weren’t long in making it two from two as they struck back within five minutes. Peter Hynes made a break on the right wing before setting Giteau away through the middle. The outhalf was commandeered just short of the Irish line, but another wonderful offload to debutant James Horwill saw the second row dive over.

Giteau made no mistake this time around, and from nowhere the Wallabies led by 12-7.

The hits were ferocious up front, if the lifeless atmosphere in the stadium was somewhat less engrossing. Shane Jennings bore the brunt of the heaviest of these hits as he was forced from the field with a rib injury after 25 minutes, making way for third choice flanker Stephen Ferris to come on to win his first Irish cap.

Ireland were still battling feverishly at the break down, but indiscipline inside their own half soon proved costly as the marauding Wallabies were awarded a penalty on 26 minutes which Giteau duly kicked to leave Australia 15-7 to the good at the break.

The Wallabies once again got the perfect start after the resumption as Giteau kicked his second penalty to increase the lead to 11 points. But they would be the last points Deans’ side would see as Ireland went on an all-out assault.

Kearney was causing all kinds of problems for the Aussie defence as he continued to break the game line and set up good attacking positions for his side, but handling errors proved costly time and again as the Irish struggled to make their dominance in the possession stakes count on the scoreboard.  The most glaring and ultimately the most costly error came from captain Brian O’Driscoll.

The centre gathered a crossfield kick on 55 minutes and burst through the Aussie defence to leave himself one on one with the line in sight. He spotted centre partner Paddy Wallace inside, but threw possibly the worst pass of his career at the worst possible time leaving Wallace with no hope of gathering to score.

Australia cleared their lines, but Ireland were right back on top of them on the 70th minute mark as Kearney again lit the touch-paper.

A stunning break out from defence set O’Driscoll away, and the skipper made up for his earlier error as he dived for the line. O’Gara missed the conversion, but Ireland were within a single score.

An all-out assault on the Wallaby line followed for the remaining 10 minutes. Ireland went through phase after phase in search of a breakthrough but the Wallaby defence, by far their best attribute on the night, held tough to force Ireland into error after error as the Wallabies held on to get the Deans era off to a winning start.