Australia 6 – 15 Ireland!!!!!

We dared to hope, just a tiny bit of hope…. Hope that Ireland might spark, hope that Ireland might just find the form they found in that last Six Nations game against England….. Simply WOW!

Ireland now sit in prime position to take control of Pool C and avoid South Africa and the All Blacks in the knockout stages, instead if they manage to head up Pool C they’ll more than likely create a quarter final clash against the Welsh with all the memories of that try in the back of their heads that has to be a good thing right?

From the very beginning it was clear that Ireland were up for it, just 50 seconds in Ireland won their first penalty through holding up Pat McCabe in the tackle and forcing a turnover.

Every Irishman in Eden Park (and every Kiwi in an Irish shirt!) was screaming as O’Brien and Heaslip rumbled forward.

An Irish lineout four minutes in was disrupted by the Wallabies, and Quade Cooper found space outside the 22 from the resulting scrum. Rob Kearney’s high tackle on Kurtley Beale gave James O’Connor his first chance to open the scoring – which he put wide.

Australia were on the up, Beale gathering a high ball right in front of Kearney and the former Leinster flanker Rocky Elsom started a strong phase of play in the Irish 22, inching their way to the try-line.

A scrum had to be reset and eventually collapsed allowing O’Connor to make up for his earlier miss at close range and open the scoring for Australia.

O’Connell tackled Horwill and allowed Healy to force a penalty near the 10 metre line. Sexton’s kick had the legs but not the accuracy putting it wide.

Ireland were finding momentum, Sexton putting it high for Kearney to make a great collection. O’Driscoll pushed his team up into the 22 and Elsom gave away a penalty, Sexton was on hand to level the points.

Tommy Bowe gained metres after Coopers restart as the backs and forwards combined to create fantastic rugby, gain the advantage and allow Sexton to drop a goal.

Australia pushed the Irish defence hard, but Keith Earls fought back with a thumping tackle on McCabe. Bryce Lawrence was playing penalty advantage though and O’Connor kicked the Wallabies level in the 24th minute.

O’Driscoll and D’Arcy tackled Cooper as he tried to unlock the Irish defence at over the halfway, Heaslip gave away penalty at the ruck and O’Connor again missed the target.

Pressure from the Irish scrum forced Kepu to infringe and Sexton suffered his second miss from a penalty. Ireland kept going forward as a Ferris drive shunted Genia back into the Australia 22.

Half Time 6-6

A half time score of 6 all was nothing to get excited about given that’s where Australia were with Italy only to go on and tidy the game up in the second half… 

48 minutes gone and the Australian captain Horwill went offside at the ruck as the pick and go of Ireland drove forward. Sexton found range and accuracy this time to make the score 9-6.

D’Arcy pulled up with a tight hamstring, introducing Ronan O’Gara to the fray with Sexton moving to inside centre. Another scrum yielded another penalty as Ireland’s pack exerted their pressure again.

Sexton was millimetres off this time hitting the woodwork, and had O’Driscoll have been 6 foot 4 it would have been a try to Ireland, it was left for Healy to hit Cooper to stop a long range counter.

Defence after defence kept the Australians out on the hour mark, O’Connell’s challenge eventually forcing Cooper to throw a forward pass.

With O’Driscoll blood subbed a centre partnership of Earls and Trimble lined out. Conor Murray came on to win his fourth cap, and fantastic scrum work from Healy, Best, and Ross led to O’Gara extending the Ireland lead to 12-6.

Australia could not deal with O’Gara pulling the strings at 10 as Ireland and Ross were stopped three metres short of the line.

The heavens opened in Auckland and massive Irish scrummaging gave O’Gara another penalty close to their posts. Pushing Ireland out of reach by more than a converted try.

Australia pushed hard with Ashley-Cooper out wide and an amazing diving tackle from O’Brien prevented Genia from scoring. Australia continued to look dangerous with a quick-tap penalty, Cooper’s backhanded pass was grabbed by Bowe who raced the length of the field to within metres of the try line, only for O’Connor to tackle him into touch.

Conor Murray had another go and crossed the line, only for it to be ruled out for an earlier offside.

All in all, a return to form for an Irish side that has so much experience and promise…..

 

Tags: Ireland v Australia, RWC 2011, v Australia
September 17th, 2011 | Posted in Rugby World Cup | 2 Comments »