TICKETS FOR THIS one have been like gold dust in Sydney.
The Wallabies’ Nations Championship meeting with Andy Farrell’s Ireland on Saturday [KO 11.10am Irish time, Virgin Media One] sold out quickly, but that hasn’t stopped ticket hunters desperately seeking out one of the precious passes.
Usually, something turns up last minute, but lots of people are being left disappointed this time.
“Everyone’s asking you, but you can’t get them,” says Ireland captain Dan Sheehan.
The 42,500 lucky souls who have secured the goods are anticipating a cracking contest. Ireland have beaten Australia a record five times in a row, so there is a score to settle for the Wallabies.
The atmosphere promises to be rousing. It might quite be a home game for Ireland but Rugby Australia reckon there will be a 50/50 split in the crowd. The expats are turning out in force, leaving County Coogee to roar their team on in an 8.10pm local kick-off.
“It really feels like a proper World Cup away day sort of feel to it,” says Sheehan.
“Hopefully everyone’s having a great day and shows up in green, and sometimes the travelling support can be even better than at home.”
Farrell’s build-up to this game has been about Ireland putting on a show for their brilliant fans, the ones who have to get up in the middle of the night to watch their team in the Six Nations and November Tests. This is a day in the sun for the Irish abroad.
Memories of the 2018 Ireland tour of Australia have popped up all week, including for those who played in it.
“I remember the last game in Sydney, which we won,” said second row James Ryan. “My memory from that game was that behind one goalpost, it was just a full stand of green. It was mental.
“That was my first season as a professional rugby player, so it was just a step up in terms of the atmosphere and everything that went with all the games.”
Ireland celebrate in Sydney in 2018. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
Perhaps this will be a similar experience for the relatively inexperienced Irish players in this team. Out-half Sam Prendergast has been backed by Farrell at number 10. Jamie Osborne gets the nod on the left wing as the post-James Lowe era begins. Cian Prendergast is given the chance to bring his form into the number six shirt. And Rob Baloucoune will aim to build on his quite brilliant Six Nations campaign.
This is all new to them, yet Irish players nowadays have great expectations of themselves.
“Ireland have always been competitive for some of our players since they’ve been growing up watching Ireland,” said forwards coach Paul O’Connell.
“I’m probably a product of the ‘90s where I still have scars from those days watching on TV and stuff.
“So, I probably still have that bit of an underdog feeling in me all the time, but we’ve certainly been more competitive against Australia in recent years than we would have been when I was growing up.”
Farrell’s players will be demanding the best of themselves today. They hammered the Wallabies 46-19 last November in Dublin, although everyone is aware that the Australians were running on fumes at that stage of a long season.
There is belief in the Wallabies group that they will be far more energetic and physical this time. This is Joe Schmidt’s final campaign in charge of the Aussies, so he’s determined for his team to show more of the good stuff they did in 2025, like notching wins against the Lions and Springboks.
“We don’t feel like we’re miles away, but execution of that plan is the essence of success or failure,” said Schmidt. “There’s always a plan, and that plan has always got to be adaptable because Ireland will squeeze you.”
In terms of that plan, the Wallabies have to be better in the air against Ireland than they were in November, when Ireland’s kicking game had a huge influence on their dominant win.
The Wallabies’ lineout ran at under 70% that night, so the set-piece has to be better. There have been concerns among Australian supporters about Schmidt’s second row selections, with the inexperienced Josh Canham starting and Lachlan Shaw to debut off the bench, but those two are good lineout operators.
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Joe Schmidt hopes the lineout and aerial battle go better this time. Ben Brady / INPHO
Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
The Wallabies will be keen to give their backline a much better chance to show off their skills, having been limited to just two linebreaks in Dublin last autumn.
Inside centre Len Ikitau has had a brilliant season with Exeter and his midfield partner Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii is a big, powerful operator who can offload.
Dylan Pietsch brings physicality and work rate off the left wing, while 21-year-old right wing Max Jorgensen had a thrilling Super Rugby season that included some sensational finishes. So Ireland centre Garry Ringrose and co. are expecting a tough evening.
“Very, very tough,” said Ringrose. Their centre partnership with Ikitau and Suaalii, they have been unbelievable. I guess their ability to play at the line and through the line, as well as play to space.
“Seeing some of the things they do, how tight and flat they attack can sit you down and they’ll pull out the back, or the opposite. If you guess, they’ll play through you, so unbelievably challenging from those two in terms of ball in hand.
“And then, the back three are pretty lethal as well in terms of the pace out wide, so plenty of challenges to get our heads around.”
The big surprise Wallabies pick is fullback Jock Campbell, the 31-year-old Reds man who returns to Test rugby for the first time since 2022.
He has just had his best-ever Super Rugby season, with his daring counter-attacking bringing something exciting to the Wallabies party. Campbell has become a more aggressive player, so he gets his fifth Test cap as the fit-again Tom Wright is held in reserve on the bench.
Campbell is one of those somewhat unknown elements for the Wallabies, the kind of selection which holds a bit of intrigue.
From Ireland’s point of view, the big theme along with playing for the Irish fans has been the need to make a better start to this campaign, which marks the beginning of the new Nations Championship.
Farrell’s men have been slow off the mark in recent windows, so they have taken somewhat altered approaches to this tour. One example is moving their Wednesday pitch session to Thursday and giving the players a day off on Wednesday instead of Thursday.
They aim to burst out of the blocks tonight.
Hugo Keenan at Allianz Stadium. Ben Brady / INPHO
Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
“I think it’s working at speed to set,” said Sheehan. “In away games or if the crowd’s on top of you or things don’t go well to start, you can quickly just go inward on yourself and everything sort of slows down.
“You’re not chasing things 100%. You’re not running lines at 100% and you can end up looking really average, which we did.”
The mysticism of coming on tour to the Southern Hemisphere will never be what it was in the days before everyone knew everything about everyone else in rugby, but this still feels big to the Irish players.
“There is definitely something special about it,” said Ringrose.
“There’s that extra bit of coming down to the Southern Hemisphere to play Australia and in their backyard and then Japan and the challenge in Auckland.
“It doesn’t get much bigger than that, so it is properly special.”
AUSTRALIA: Jock Campbell; Max Jorgensen, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, Len Ikitau, Dylan Pietsch; Carter Gordon, Ryan Lonergan; Angus Bell, Josh Nasser, Allan Alaalatoa; Josh Canham, Jeremy Williams; Rob Valetini, Fraser McReight, Harry Wilson (captain).
Replacements: Brandon Paenga-Amosa, James Slipper, Taniela Tupou, Lachlan Shaw, Tom Hooper, Tate McDermott, Ben Donaldson, Tom Wright.
IRELAND: Hugo Keenan; Rob Baloucoune, Garry Ringrose, Stuart McCloskey, Jamie Osborne; Sam Prendergast, Jamison Gibson-Park; Tom O’Toole, Dan Sheehan (captain), Tadhg Furlong; Joe McCarthy, James Ryan; Cian Prendergast, Josh van der Flier, Jack Conan.
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Huge Irish crowd expected as Ireland target fast start against Wallabies
TICKETS FOR THIS one have been like gold dust in Sydney.
The Wallabies’ Nations Championship meeting with Andy Farrell’s Ireland on Saturday [KO 11.10am Irish time, Virgin Media One] sold out quickly, but that hasn’t stopped ticket hunters desperately seeking out one of the precious passes.
Usually, something turns up last minute, but lots of people are being left disappointed this time.
“Everyone’s asking you, but you can’t get them,” says Ireland captain Dan Sheehan.
The 42,500 lucky souls who have secured the goods are anticipating a cracking contest. Ireland have beaten Australia a record five times in a row, so there is a score to settle for the Wallabies.
The atmosphere promises to be rousing. It might quite be a home game for Ireland but Rugby Australia reckon there will be a 50/50 split in the crowd. The expats are turning out in force, leaving County Coogee to roar their team on in an 8.10pm local kick-off.
“It really feels like a proper World Cup away day sort of feel to it,” says Sheehan.
“Hopefully everyone’s having a great day and shows up in green, and sometimes the travelling support can be even better than at home.”
Farrell’s build-up to this game has been about Ireland putting on a show for their brilliant fans, the ones who have to get up in the middle of the night to watch their team in the Six Nations and November Tests. This is a day in the sun for the Irish abroad.
Memories of the 2018 Ireland tour of Australia have popped up all week, including for those who played in it.
“I remember the last game in Sydney, which we won,” said second row James Ryan. “My memory from that game was that behind one goalpost, it was just a full stand of green. It was mental.
“That was my first season as a professional rugby player, so it was just a step up in terms of the atmosphere and everything that went with all the games.”
Perhaps this will be a similar experience for the relatively inexperienced Irish players in this team. Out-half Sam Prendergast has been backed by Farrell at number 10. Jamie Osborne gets the nod on the left wing as the post-James Lowe era begins. Cian Prendergast is given the chance to bring his form into the number six shirt. And Rob Baloucoune will aim to build on his quite brilliant Six Nations campaign.
This is all new to them, yet Irish players nowadays have great expectations of themselves.
“Ireland have always been competitive for some of our players since they’ve been growing up watching Ireland,” said forwards coach Paul O’Connell.
“I’m probably a product of the ‘90s where I still have scars from those days watching on TV and stuff.
“So, I probably still have that bit of an underdog feeling in me all the time, but we’ve certainly been more competitive against Australia in recent years than we would have been when I was growing up.”
Farrell’s players will be demanding the best of themselves today. They hammered the Wallabies 46-19 last November in Dublin, although everyone is aware that the Australians were running on fumes at that stage of a long season.
There is belief in the Wallabies group that they will be far more energetic and physical this time. This is Joe Schmidt’s final campaign in charge of the Aussies, so he’s determined for his team to show more of the good stuff they did in 2025, like notching wins against the Lions and Springboks.
“We don’t feel like we’re miles away, but execution of that plan is the essence of success or failure,” said Schmidt. “There’s always a plan, and that plan has always got to be adaptable because Ireland will squeeze you.”
In terms of that plan, the Wallabies have to be better in the air against Ireland than they were in November, when Ireland’s kicking game had a huge influence on their dominant win.
The Wallabies’ lineout ran at under 70% that night, so the set-piece has to be better. There have been concerns among Australian supporters about Schmidt’s second row selections, with the inexperienced Josh Canham starting and Lachlan Shaw to debut off the bench, but those two are good lineout operators.
The Wallabies will be keen to give their backline a much better chance to show off their skills, having been limited to just two linebreaks in Dublin last autumn.
Inside centre Len Ikitau has had a brilliant season with Exeter and his midfield partner Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii is a big, powerful operator who can offload.
Dylan Pietsch brings physicality and work rate off the left wing, while 21-year-old right wing Max Jorgensen had a thrilling Super Rugby season that included some sensational finishes. So Ireland centre Garry Ringrose and co. are expecting a tough evening.
“Very, very tough,” said Ringrose. Their centre partnership with Ikitau and Suaalii, they have been unbelievable. I guess their ability to play at the line and through the line, as well as play to space.
“Seeing some of the things they do, how tight and flat they attack can sit you down and they’ll pull out the back, or the opposite. If you guess, they’ll play through you, so unbelievably challenging from those two in terms of ball in hand.
“And then, the back three are pretty lethal as well in terms of the pace out wide, so plenty of challenges to get our heads around.”
The big surprise Wallabies pick is fullback Jock Campbell, the 31-year-old Reds man who returns to Test rugby for the first time since 2022.
He has just had his best-ever Super Rugby season, with his daring counter-attacking bringing something exciting to the Wallabies party. Campbell has become a more aggressive player, so he gets his fifth Test cap as the fit-again Tom Wright is held in reserve on the bench.
Campbell is one of those somewhat unknown elements for the Wallabies, the kind of selection which holds a bit of intrigue.
From Ireland’s point of view, the big theme along with playing for the Irish fans has been the need to make a better start to this campaign, which marks the beginning of the new Nations Championship.
Farrell’s men have been slow off the mark in recent windows, so they have taken somewhat altered approaches to this tour. One example is moving their Wednesday pitch session to Thursday and giving the players a day off on Wednesday instead of Thursday.
They aim to burst out of the blocks tonight.
“I think it’s working at speed to set,” said Sheehan. “In away games or if the crowd’s on top of you or things don’t go well to start, you can quickly just go inward on yourself and everything sort of slows down.
“You’re not chasing things 100%. You’re not running lines at 100% and you can end up looking really average, which we did.”
The mysticism of coming on tour to the Southern Hemisphere will never be what it was in the days before everyone knew everything about everyone else in rugby, but this still feels big to the Irish players.
“There is definitely something special about it,” said Ringrose.
“There’s that extra bit of coming down to the Southern Hemisphere to play Australia and in their backyard and then Japan and the challenge in Auckland.
“It doesn’t get much bigger than that, so it is properly special.”
AUSTRALIA: Jock Campbell; Max Jorgensen, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, Len Ikitau, Dylan Pietsch; Carter Gordon, Ryan Lonergan; Angus Bell, Josh Nasser, Allan Alaalatoa; Josh Canham, Jeremy Williams; Rob Valetini, Fraser McReight, Harry Wilson (captain).
Replacements: Brandon Paenga-Amosa, James Slipper, Taniela Tupou, Lachlan Shaw, Tom Hooper, Tate McDermott, Ben Donaldson, Tom Wright.
IRELAND: Hugo Keenan; Rob Baloucoune, Garry Ringrose, Stuart McCloskey, Jamie Osborne; Sam Prendergast, Jamison Gibson-Park; Tom O’Toole, Dan Sheehan (captain), Tadhg Furlong; Joe McCarthy, James Ryan; Cian Prendergast, Josh van der Flier, Jack Conan.
Replacements: Rónan Kelleher, Jeremy Loughman, Thomas Clarkson, Tadhg Beirne, Nick Timoney, Craig Casey, Ciarán Frawley, Bundee Aki.
Referee: Ben O’Keeffe [New Zealand].
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Australia g'day mate Ireland Nations Championship Preview