‘We’re better than that’: Harry Wilson’s take on Wallabies’ Ireland loss

Harry Wilson spoke candidly after the Wallabies’ “hugely disappointing” 46-19 defeat to Ireland in the Quilter Nations Series, with the pain of another loss written all over the skipper’s face deep into a mammoth international season.

Three months on from Australia’s unforgettable wins over the British & Irish Lions in Sydney and the Springboks at Johannesburg’s Emirates Airline Park, the Wallabies suffered their seventh defeat from their last nine Tests.

Australia beat Argentina in Townsville and Japan in Tokyo during that period, which included recent losses to England and Italy up north. In their 14th Test of the 2025 campaign, the men in gold looked to bounce back against one of the world’s form sides.

Ireland are “third in the world for a reason,” Wilson reflected after Saturday’s defeat, with the hosts piling on the points during a one-sided second term. Ireland scored three tries to one during the second half, with a 25-point blitz seeing the home side record a comfortable triumph.

Len Ikitau, Fraser McReight and Billy Pollard scored a try each, but the Wallabies were left to rue a misfiring set-piece and having lost 18 turnovers. The Wallabies had a chance to make it a one-score game late but a wayward lineout throw all but sealed the result.

“I thought we showed a lot of character in that first half. We weren’t playing too good,” Wilson said post-game on Stan Sport.

“We had a lot of confidence there to be honest going into that second half and then we just got drowned out. They put it on us in that kick battle, they won the high balls in conditions and when our lineout wasn’t functioning, it really did hurt us there.

“Saying that, with 15 minutes to go we had a lineout five metres out. If we score there it’s game on but overthrow there and it’s costly, it’s Test match footy. We’ve got to win those big moments.

“The game was there for us and we just couldn’t get in that second half,” he added. 

“They outplayed us and it’s really disappointing because we’re better than that.”

Australia-born fullback Mack Hasen received Player of the Match honours after scoring a 27-minute hat-trick to start the match. Hansen scored two tries inside the first 10 minutes before the away side hit back through Ikitau.

The John Eales Medallist broke through a Sam Prendergast tackle to score a much-needed try, before Hansen completed a hat-trick soon after. McReight had the last try-scoring say before the break, with yet another crucial score in the dying stages of the first term.

Australian supporters who got out of bed in the early hours of Sunday morning would’ve been full of belief during the half-time interval, and the same goes for the players. The Wallabies had given themselves a chance despite making a series of errors.

Prendergast had the ball on a string, slotting a drop goal 15 minutes into the second half. It was all Ireland from there, with Caelan Doris, Ryan Baird and Robbie Henshaw each adding five points to the home side’s score during the final 12 minutes.

The Wallabies started their Spring Tour with a four-point win over Japan, but after defeats to England, Italy and now Ireland, hold a 1-3 record. They’ll be eager to bounce back in their 15th and final Test of 2025 when they face France in Paris next weekend. 

“We’ve got one more Test match against France, and we want to improve in a few areas because we’re not playing the footy that we need to be playing,” Wilson insisted.

“Credit to Ireland, they’re a classy team… they did put us under pressure but there’s a few moments in that second half where we put ourselves under pressure which is dissapointing.”