GARRY RINGROSE EXPECTS Ireland to be mentally and physically ready when Australia visit the Aviva Stadium on Saturday, but warns his side must show more of a clinical edge if they are to finish their November series on a winning note.
Joe Schmidt’s men had 66% of the possession in their bruising defeat to the All Blacks, with the vast majority of the match played in the visitor’s half, but Ireland failed to turn territory into tries in the 21-9 loss, an aspect Ringrose feels his side need to improve on.
“We did take it to them, if we were better in a couple of areas, maybe the scoreline could have been different,” Ringrose says. “All credit to them for winning, we’ll take a little bit of confidence from it and try to learn from our errors and shift our focus to next week as soon as possible.
“You’ve got to respect and admire them for coming out with a fierce amount of intensity and a feeling with a chip on their shoulder from Chicago and it showed.
“We had a couple of entries into their 22 and didn’t quite come away with the points we would have liked. We will go back and analyse and see where we can be better. We talked in the changing room after, we can’t sit and be disappointed, we’ve a huge match against Australia here.
“We’re certainly going to work hard and right a few wrongs.”
As the temperatures dropped below freezing, Ringrose says he wasn’t caught cold when he was summoned from the bench after just 11 minutes.
A heavy blow to the head forced his Leinster teammate Robbie Henshaw off the field, with the Dubliner tasked to play inside centre, a position he has only previously played in for the Leinster U20s side.
“It wasn’t too foreign, Joe rarely has a stone left unturned and has everybody prepared. It wasn’t too much of a shock to the system as it may have been thought of.
“The coaching staff and senior players lead by example and have the subs prepped and demand the most out of you during the week – whether you have one cap or a hundred caps – the same is expected from everyone detail-wise and knowing your role.
“It’s not intimidating as you think, you are prepped very hard during the week, and it pays off when you’re called on.”
Having only made his international debut in last week’s clash against Canada, the 21-year-old says he wasn’t overawed against the world champions.
“It was tough, the cauldron that is the Aviva against the number one team in the world. It was pretty cool occasion to be part of and it was incredibly physical.
“Playing the best team in the world is always going to be a bit of a step up. Whatever about the physical edge they bring, they are very good skillfully too – so they come at you from all angles.”
Speaking after the match, Israel Dagg felt the spirit shown by New Zealand was the most pleasing part of their performance, with the All Blacks playing 60 minutes of the game with 14 men.
“We were pretty disappointed with what happened two weeks ago,” Dagg said. “Ireland had a lot of confidence going into this game, it was going to be a tough and full on battle.
“It was a funny game. I’m used to getting on the ball a little bit more, we just weren’t getting any fluency or any flow. We showed plenty of heart and that is what I’ll take out of that game.”
The Wallabies are next up for Ireland, with Michael Cheika’s side unbeaten on their November tour so far.
Australia overcame France this weekend, after victories over Wales and Scotland earlier this month, as Ireland aim to beat the three heavyweights of the southern hemisphere for the first time in the same year.
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