Ireland 13 Australia 10
Heaven knows how many outhalves had to be struck down for Ross Byrne to be called into the squad almost as an afterthought on Tuesday, specifically with the role of being an unused 24th man. But, such is the way of these things, that after Johnny Sexton was a late withdrawal, Byrne was given the last seven minutes at the end of a misfiring Irish performance, and landed a very difficult match-winning penalty in the 76th minute.
This was Byrne’s first cap since the win over England in the 2021 Six Nations finale in March 2021, when he came on for precisely a minute. But he has never lacked inner mental strength, and he’s always been an exceptional goalkicker.
So, Ireland signed off a stellar year by retaining the world number one ranking, have beaten the southern hemisphere big three in the same year for the just the second time and equalled the Irish record of a dozen wins in a row.
In truth they did so with arguably their least convincing performance of the year, or at any rate rivalled only by the one a week ago against Fiji. A common denominator was, of course, no captain cum talisman, and no less than last week, this performance will do little to dispel the feeling that however good this Irish team is, it remains Sexton dependent.
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Jack Crowley, on his full Test debut, looked composed and didn’t do much wrong, but even so the performance lacked direction. It didn’t help that à la South Africa, the Wallabies neutered Ireland’s attacking game by denying them its lifeblood, quick ruck ball.
But even allowing for painfully slow ball, apart from one or two fleeting exceptions, much of Ireland’s running game was far, far too lateral and was for the most part easily gobbled up by the Aussie defence. Jamison Gibson-Park didn’t have one of his best games, witness the failure to convert two prime attacking plays against 13 men, but there were many off-colour performances.
The superb Caelan Doris was a clear exception in all he did but ultimately Ireland were indebted to the quality of their lineout and their defence, both of which were also exceptional.
Josh van der Flier and Doris made 49 tackles between them, all the tight five put in huge shifts too and further out Garry Ringrose held the defence together.
After the Mathieu Raynal show at Twickenham, this was the Ben O’Keeffe show, but while there was also drama at the end there were far too many errors here. Ultimately, the men in gold will be kicking themselves for not availing of a golden opportunity.
Although Sexton conducted the prematch toss-up, he was nowhere to be seen in the warm-up. Crowley’s name was announced at No 10 to barely a murmur – with the stadium still half-full – until Sexton’s absence was formally announced just before kick-off.
By then, Ireland’s odds had trimmed from 12- to nine-point favourites. Thankfully too, the prematch rain had relented.
Gibson-Park’s fumble from Nic White’s box kick set the tone and afforded Australia the game’s first foothold.
White tapped a penalty to Rob Valetini and a few phases later touched down after taking Andrew Porter’s tackle, but the score was chalked off for David Porecki’s neck roll on Van der Flier. The Wallabies have been the most ill-disciplined Tier One side in the world this year, and this one wasn’t the only penalty which Dave Rennie categorises as DAPs (Dumb Ass Penalties).
Porecki was also pinged for hands on the deck, and Crowley opened his international account from about 25 metres out slightly to the right of the posts. By contrast, the vastly more experienced Bernard Foley, in his 76th Test, missed from a similar angle, if slightly further out.
O’Keeffe made one dreadful decision when penalising Ringrose for not rolling away, not having realised that the Irish centre had actually made an intercept. When Ringrose pointed this out, O’Keeffe said: “Not clear.”
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It led to a fourth of five visits to the Irish 22, and a prolonged one at that. All Ireland’s best work was in defence, and their own 22. The turnover king of the autumn series, Tadhg Beirne, won his sixth of the month.
But interminably slow ruck ball coupled with Gibson-Park’s slow service and poor kicks by him and Jimmy O’Brien, meant Ireland had trouble exiting and weren’t helped by Tadhg Furlong hoofing one knock-on advantage downfield.
During yet another lengthy dialogue by the game’s most dominant figure, namely the referee, O’Keeffe said: “We’re trying to get this game of rugby going.” He seemed blissfully unaware of the irony in that.
The Wallabies lost centre Hunter Paisami early on and a clearly dazed Porecki followed in the 24th minute. But when his replacement, Folau Fainga’a, committed their fourth neck roll of the half, he was sinbinned.
Ireland went for the jugular just before half-time when rejecting a kickable penalty by going to the corner (opting for a scrum would have seen Australia temporarily reduced to 13 players) but White put his body on the line to deny Sheehan.
When Australia were obliged to have uncontested scrums on the resumption this left Ireland playing against 13 men. Off a lineout, Gibson-Park went blind to Mack Hansen, who was tackled into touch. Off a scrum, he repeated the trick and appeared to score after Hansen offloaded back inside, but the TMO’s review showed that Hansens heel had touched the touchline fractionally before passing.
Soon, Valetini was penalised for a head-on-head hit on Dan Sheehan, of which O’Keeffe said the “danger very low”. Ireland turned down three points again but the Wallabies’ defensive maul is no soft touch. Peter O’Mahony was promptly replaced by Jack Conan, and James Ryan assumed the captaincy.
The Wallabies lineout forced a turnover, and their scrum a penalty, from which Foley levelled the scores, but having just returned as a replacement, the tighthead Taniela Tupou was helped off with a knee injury.
When Jake Gordon tackled an airborne Ringrose, the crowd responded to Crowley’s penalty up the line with their biggest collective roar to date. Another clever lineout variation, Ryan transferring to Josh van der Flier for Doris to be launched into the Aussie defence culminated in Bundee Aki powering through two tackles to score.
But the Wallabies responded strongly, big bad Will Skelton taking out six defenders with one carry, and after a couple of good inside lines bunched the Irish defence Jordan Pataia finished well, with Foley landing the difficult conversion to level again.
A replenished Irish pack generated a scrum penalty and, despite the kick being 45 metres in distance and five metres from the right touchline, Byrne immediately pointed to the sticks. Of course, he nailed it. That’s what Ross does.
From a similar angle, the Wallabies opted to go to the corner, but Gordon was pinged for joining the maul in front of the ball. It looked a harsh call and Australia’s last chance went with a forward pass by Foley.
SCORING SEQUENCE – 10 mins: Crowley pen 3-0; (half-time 3-0); 54: Foley pen 3-3; 60: Aki try, Crowley con 10-3; 71: Petaia try, Foley con 10-10; 76: Byrne pen 13-10.
IRELAND: Hugo Keenan (Leinster); Mack Hansen (Connacht), Garry Ringrose (Leinster), Stuart McCloskey (Ulster), Jimmy O’Brien (Leinster); Jack Crowley (Munster), Jamison Gibson-Park (Leinster); Andrew Porter (Leinster), Dan Sheehan (Leinster), Tadhg Furlong (Leinster); Tadhg Beirne (Munster), James Ryan (Leinster); Peter O’Mahony (Munster, capt), Josh van der Flier (Leinster), Caelan Doris (Leinster).
Replacements: Jack Conan (Leinster) for O’Mahony (50 mins), Bundee Aki (Connacht) for McCloskey (54), Joe McCarthy (Leinster) for Beirne (60 mins), Finlay Bealham (Connacht) for Furlong, Craig Casey (Munster) for Gibson-Park (both 63), Rob Herring (Ulster) for Sheehan, Cian Healy (Leinster) for Porter, Ross Byrne (Leinster) for Crowley (all 73).
AUSTRALIA: Andrew Kellaway (Melbourne Rebels); Mark Nawaqanitawase (NSW Waratahs), Len Ikitau (ACT Brumbies), Hunter Paisami (ACT Brumbies), Tom Wright (ACT Brumbies); Bernard Foley (Kubota Spears, Japan), Nic White (ACT Brumbies); James Slipper (ACT Brumbies, capt), David Porecki (NSW Waratahs), Allan Ala’alatoa (ACT Brumbies); Nick Frost (ACT Brumbies), Cadeyrn Neville (ACT Brumbies); Jed Holloway (ACT Brumbies), Michael Hooper (ACT Brumbies), Rob Valetini (ACT Brumbies).
Replacements: Jordan Petaia (Queensland Reds) for Paisami (4 mins), Folau Fainga’a (Western Force) for Porecki (24) and for Ala’alatoa (53-54), Taniela Tupou (Queensland Reds) for Valetini and Petaia (44-47), Jake Gordon (NSW Waratahs) for White (46-54) and for Kellaway (60), Pete Samu (ACT Brumbies) for Valetini (48), Will Skelton (La Rochelle) for Neville (53), Tom Robertson (Western Force) for Slipper (77). Not used: Noah Lolesio (ACT Brumbies).
Referee: Ben O’Keeffe (NZR)
