See below for post-match reaction to Thursday’s IRB Under-19 World Championship match between Ireland and Australia at Ravenhill. Included are the opinions of Ireland coach Charlie McAleese and captain Paul Ryan and Australian coach Phil Mooney and captain Brett Gillespie.
IRELAND COACH CHARLIE MCALEESE:
– ON LOSING BY FIVE POINTS TO THE DEFENDING CHAMPIONS –
“There’s a huge frustration factor at having run Australia so close. We put a lot into this game. We had a belief we could win the game. All the players on the park had that belief.
“We’re obviously very disappointed but what a performance – we gave away a lot of poundage to a very big and experienced team and, as they demonstrated in the first 10, 15 minutes of the second half, a very skilful side.
“We nullified their threat in the first half and that was quite exceptional. We were very competitive around the ruck area.”
– ON THE SKILL LEVELS OF THE TWO TEAMS –
“I wouldn’t knock Irish rugby. Sometimes people say you’re great scrappers and you get stuck in there. Our team tonight were every bit as skilful as the Australians.
“We may not, in some areas, have had the pace and maybe the powerfulness because we don’t develop our bodies as early as they do and that always leaves our guys at a bit of a disadvantage going in. But these guys swallowed up that disadvantage and nullified the whole thing.
“I thought our use of the ball was very intelligent tonight and I think it can get better as the tournament goes on.”
– ON THE RAVENHILL CROWD –
“We had a bit of a damp spot just after half-time when we let them get control of the ball for 10 or 12 minutes, and I thought, apart from that, we did exceptionally well.
“I thought the crowd were a big factor in that. Midway through the second half, they really got behind us.”
IRELAND CAPTAIN PAUL RYAN:
– ON ALLOWING AUSTRALIA IN FOR TWO TRIES EARLY IN THE SECOND HALF –
“It was just a lack of concentration. I think we came out for the second half and we weren’t fully focused, but then again, we did extremely well to get back into it, especially with the crowd in that 22, you can’t not notice them. You try to focus but it’s fairly hard to shade it out when you hear them roaring.
“Disappointed, but pleased we got the bonus point. We’ve got a big game on Monday and we’re straight into focusing on that.”
– ON MONDAY’S GAME AGAINST SCOTLAND –
“I think everyone knows in the back of their heads that Scotland, out of the three games, could be one of the toughest. They’re no strangers to here, they’re quite close to home and they know what to expect from us and we know what to expect from them.
“It’s going to be a very physical game. For my mind, it’s going to be a tougher game than tonight. We’ve just got to get our heads around it and take the positives from tonight’s game.”
AUSTRALIAN COACH PHIL MOONEY:
– ON HIS SIDE COMING BACK AFTER GOING 5-0 DOWN –
“It was a very difficult first half. Ireland came out exactly as we thought they would. They are a fine side and playing at home in front of a very parochial crowd, I think that lifted them as well.
“As much as we spoke about trying to be composed and sticking to team patterns, we’re talking about 17, 18, 19-year-old footballers. I think probably in the first half, the atmosphere got to them (the Australian players) a little.
“Whilst they started with a lot of intensity, they probably didn’t get the reward they may have and you can put that down to some good scrambling defence from us.
“We played parts of the game with 13 men so we really had to dig deep. At half-time we spoke about composure and sticking to patterns, and fortunately we were able to do that, a little more in the second half, and came away with a very well-earned, hard-fought win.”
– ON PLAYING AT RAVENHILL –
“That’s one of the beauties of these tournaments, where young footballers get to the opportunity to play in foreign environments – quite hostile ones – that’s a fantastic learning experience that you can’t substitute anywhere else.”
AUSTRALIAN CAPTAIN BRETT GILLESPIE:
– ON A TOUGH ENCOUNTER WITH IRELAND –
“We were always expecting a tough one against the Irish. Guys are always going to be very physical, they definitely came out like that and held that for the rest of the game.
“It gave a lot of the boys a wake-up call. The boys who haven’t played in a tournament of this standard and we definitely know the standard we need to be at to win games.”
– ON RECOVERING FROM MICHAEL OUKA’S SENDING-OFF –
“The boys did quite well to come back with 14 men for most of the game. Certainly we showed a fighting spirit and if we can keep that up for the rest of the tournament hopefully we should go alright.”
– ON PLAYING AT RAVENHILL –
“It was great fun, a bit daunting at times. I’ve never played in front of a stadium like that. It was great experience for us, especially at the end when the Irish had a bit of ball and we had to defend.”
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