Last-minute penalty sees Ireland pip Wallabies at the death
Ross Byrne landed a dramatic late penalty as Ireland overcame the loss of captain Johnny Sexton to cap a stellar year with a disjointed 13-10 win over Australia.
Replacement fly-half Byrne nailed a difficult kick from wide on the right with just three minutes remaining in Dublin to earn Ireland a record-equalling 12th successive home victory.
Andy Farrell’s men struggled for large parts of a disappointing contest and could easily have ended 2022 with a serious reality check against opponents beaten by Italy just last weekend.
Ireland centre Bundee Aki marked his return from an eight-game ban with the opening try but the game remained in the balance in the closing stages after Jordan Petaia crossed for the Wallabies.
A difficult evening for the Irish began with talisman Sexton withdrawing through injury, with his deputy Jack Crowley booting five points on his maiden Test start before Byrne, who was elevated to the bench at the 11th hour, proving to be the match-winner.
Victory for Ireland saw them become the first nation to defeat New Zealand, South Africa and the Wallabies in a calendar year since England in 2002.
Sir Clive Woodward’s men went on to lift the World Cup the year after achieving that feat and that remains the ultimate goal for Farrell’s side looking ahead to next year’s showpiece tournament in France.
On this evidence, that dream seems a distant reality.
Farrell was far from pleased with what he witnessed in last weekend’s underwhelming 35-17 win over Fiji and – Sexton aside – welcomed back a host of players from injury as part of eight alterations.
The world coach of the year nominee would have taken little encouragement from a painfully stop-start encounter littered with sloppy errors, penalties and exchanges of possession.
Ireland defended doggedly in the face of incessant pressure for large parts of the opening period, including at one stage repelling 21 phases which sparked a rousing rendition of the Fields of Athenry, but offered little from an attacking perspective.
Australia thought they had scored a fourth-minute try, only for scrum-half Nic White’s effort to be disallowed on review due to Dave Porecki’s neck roll on Josh Van Der Flier.
Crowley, wearing the number 10 jersey embroidered with Sexton’s name, calmly slotted the only points of the half in the 10th minute, while rival fly-half Bernard Foley was wayward with a penalty at the other end.
Wallabies coach Dave Rennie had retained just five of the players who began the embarrassing 28-27 loss in Florence.
Replacement hooker Folau Fainga’a was among the 10 men dropped and, having come on to replace the stricken Porecki, was sin-binned in the 37th minute after Van Der Flier endured another high tackle, before Irish number two Dan Sheehan was held up on the line just before the whistle.
A poor – and, at times, tetchy – Test match was in desperate need of a spark.
Ireland scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park looked to have provided it seven minutes after the restart but his score was subsequently chalked off as Canberra-born team-mate Mack Hansen had gone into touch just before a fine offload.
Australia had briefly been reduced to 13 men at that point due to the temporary absence of Fainga’a prompting uncontested scrums.
The Wallabies came through a crucial period in the contest unscathed and were level in the 56th thanks to Foley finding his range with his second penalty.
Below-par Ireland eventually made a significant dent on the scoreboard 10 minutes later when replacement Aki came back with a bang by bulldozing over at the end of relentless pressure which prompted the sell-out crowd to finally find their voices.
Crowley added the extras but the joy was swiftly cut short as Wallabies substitute Petaia broke clear to cross wide on the right, with Foley landing the tricky conversion.
Ireland looked like they would have to settle for a rare draw but Byrne impressively held his nerve as the world’s top-ranked team scraped a ninth win from 11 Tests to round off an unforgettable year in unconvincing but victorious fashion.
Comments on RugbyPass
We had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
7 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
55 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
7 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
60 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
60 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
7 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
60 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
55 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
60 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
60 Go to comments