IT’S STILL EARLY days in Joe Schmidt’s reign as Ireland coach but nonetheless, this was a big step backwards as Australia sauntered to a 32-15 win.
The Wallabies beat Ireland in every area of the game, including the scrum, where there was such hope that John Plumtree’s pack could do genuine damage. Ewen McKenzie’s side deserve credit for their attacking verve, but for the second weekend in a row, Ireland’s defence was very weak.
Four tries conceded and in a variety of ways. The first two came from errors in the same wide channel that Samoa targeted last Saturday, with Nick Cummins and then Michael Hooper the beneficiaries. In the second period, Quade Cooper’s dancing feet exposed a misunderstanding between Luke Marshall and Ian Madigan in midfield, before Hooper added his second from a powerful maul.
The loss of Jonny Sexton to a hamstring injury on the stroke of half time was unhelpful, particularly as the Racing Metro man had been attacking the line well. Madigan stepped in to cover at out-half but was part of a weak second half performance from Schmidt’s men. Even a late red card to Tevita Kuridrani for a dangerous tackle wasn’t enough to see Ireland over the tryline.
Four penalties by Sexton in the first 40 minutes were followed by just a single penalty from the boot of Madigan after the break. The Wallabies competitive desire at the breakdown, led by Hooper and captain Ben Mowen, meant Ireland failed to get their desired high tempo game plan going in a consistent manner, while the Australians were happy to fan out and smash Irish ball carriers back when there was no hope of disrupting.
McKenzie’s men gave their best performance of the month so far, with Cooper, Hooper and Israel Folau all standing out individually. It was a team effort though, with their pack stepping up to dominate their Irish counterparts. On the flip side, Schmidt’s men were sorely lacking in focus and aggression.
It’s obviously too early to be getting carried away by this defeat. Joe Schmidt simply hasn’t had the time to mould his team into an international force. However, it was still a disappointing effort from his side and the defensive weakness displayed does not bode well for next weekend against the All Blacks.
This is why Schmidt was brought on board and there is some way for Ireland to go yet.
What did you think of the game?
