It was a night of near misses for Grand Slam champions Ireland as they succumbed to an 18-9 defeat to Australia in a fiercely-contested opening Test at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium.
Ireland’s 12-match winning streak – stretching back to March 2017 – was ended by the fired-up Wallabies whose two tries from Bernard Foley (33) and the returning David Pocock (71) proved decisive, as did a scrum penalty converted by Foley which erased Ireland’s narrow lead with 10 minutes remaining.
Joey Carbery, who turned in a very solid performance on his third start, landed three penalties for Joe Schmidt’s men, but CJ Stander’s grounding of a 42nd-minute try was found to be inconclusive and TMO Ben Skeen also ruled out Kieran Marmion’s last-minute touchdown for a prior knock-on.
The teams now move on to Melbourne where Ireland will hope to level the series next Saturday and in doing so, secure a first win over the Wallabies on Australian soil since the famous 1979 series which they won 2-0, with current IRFU President Philip Orr donning the number 1 jersey in both Tests.
Captaining Ireland for the four time in his career, Peter O’Mahony stole Australian debutant Brandon Paenga-Amosa’s first lineout throw to fire an early shot for the tourists in Brisbane. However, Foley punished a Bundee Aki offside as his central second-minute penalty opened the scoring.
Marika Koroibete’s crunching tackle on kick receiver Conor Murray lay down a physical marker for the Wallabies, before a ruck penalty won by Robbie Henshaw sparked some good phases from Ireland off the lineout with Rob Herring, who was accurate with his throwing and busy in the loose, James Ryan and John Ryan all getting over the gain-line.
Good defensive reads and big hits from Kurtley Beale and Michael Hooper stopped Murray and Carbery in their tracks, but O’Mahony dangled through a grubber kick which caused problems for Koroibete, and although Australia sacked the subsequent Irish maul, an offside call against Foley allowed Carbery to level matters with a 13th minute penalty from straight in front.
James Ryan and Pocock both produced big moments in defence, winning turnovers with the latter one gaining a penalty, yet Australia’s lineout continued to look vulnerable. Both referee Marius van der Westhuizen and assistant Paul Williams missed a clear crooked throw from Paenga-Amosa, and the possession almost led to a 19th minute try. After Henshaw missed a tackle on Beale, Jacob Stockdale brilliantly swept across to bundle Koroibete over the touchline and save a certain score.
The aerial battle and the scrap at the breakdown continued to be hotly-contested areas, with O’Mahony earning his side a penalty at ruck time and Stockdale beating the otherwise impressive Israel Folau to a high ball. However, Keith Earls came off second best to Dane Haylett-Petty in the air, getting a elbow to the side of the head in the process.
Earls will have been frustrated to not make more of a well-worked move off a lineout, which involved three decoy runners in midfield. Stockdale released his fellow winger into space wide on the right but the Moyross native’s attempted chip was blocked down by Folau at full stretch. It was a bloodied Earls’ last act as he went off for a HIA and was replaced by Jordan Larmour.
Strong carries from Aki and Henshaw into the heart of the Australian defence led to Carbery splitting the posts in the 25th minute, punishing Hooper for not rolling away. Frustratingly, Ireland’s execution was lacking in and around the Australian 22 with Stockdale miscuing a grubber straight into touch and Herring’s attempted offload to the onrushing Henshaw going to ground.
Trailing 6-3, Australia were beginning to win more of the contestable kicks, one which Rob Kearney misjudged and Pocock hoovered up possession. It was shifted across to the opposite wing where Henshaw flew up in defence but Foley’s quick hands kept the move going, opening up space for Samu Kerevi to bring play within five metres of the whitewash and Will Genia flicked a short pass out for his half-back partner Foley to get over in the corner past Kearney.
Foley sent his touchline conversion just to the right and wide at 8-6, and Ireland’s error count increased on the stroke of half-time with Stockdale kicking the ball dead in a promising situation, Carbery throwing a loose pass from a Larmour-won turnover and Kearney fumbling a Genia kick and then failing to find touch having taken a mark.
The second half exploded into life with Stander’s 42nd-minute break from halfway, as the Munster star charged through a gap after a neat set-up from Aki who drew in two defenders. Chasing wingers Haylett-Petty and Koroibete tackled him a few metres short of the line and although his momentum took him over, TMO Skeen said the grounding was inconclusive.
What followed was 19 attacking phases for Ireland in the Australian 22 but frustratingly they emerged scoreless. They just could not get the penetration required, although the Wallabies were helped by a couple of refereeing decisions and non-decisions – Koroibete got away with tackling Kearney off the ball, and Pocock won a penalty which should have gone the other way for not releasing Henshaw in a tackle.
Ireland could have taken the match officials’ influence out of the game by showing more of a clinical edge but Carbery was off-target with a long-range 46th-minute penalty, and their clearing-out was inconsistent and allowed Pocock, albeit that his hands were past the ball, to claim another momentum-changing turnover.
Soon it was Jordi Murphy’s turn to get in quickly at the breakdown and force a relieving penalty, with Folau guilty of side-entry. Ireland won back the hard-earned territory they had lost, setting up Carbery to punish a Pocock infringement in the 55th minute with a stabbed penalty from inside the Australian 22.
Iain Henderson’s pressurising of Genia, the eventual man-of-the-match, led to a knock on, and with Sean Cronin joining fellow replacements Cian Healy and Tadhg Furlong in the front row and Jonathan Sexton slotting in at out-half, Ireland looked well stacked. Again though, they continued to give away turnovers after Murray had kicked the dead following his own promising break off a scrum.
Right on the hour mark, Aki lacked support and the Wallabies pinched possession, loading up on the far right wing where excellent work from Beale, in particular, freed up Folau to burst clear for an opportunist try. However, the TMO decision went Ireland’s way on this occasion as the score was chalked off for Adam Coleman tackling Henderson without the ball a couple of phases earlier.
Sexton uncharacteristically missed touch from the penalty, though, and Cronin’s neck roll on Hooper allowed Australia to build for a 14-phase onslaught in try-scoring range. The Irish defence held out, winning possession back after a Kerevi knock-on, but when the scrum wheeled around, referee van der Westhuizen gave the decision to the Wallabies and Foley booted them ahead – 11-9.
A superb piece of fielding by Folau launched Australia forward almost immediately, and Stockdale, tracking back to cover a kick, was pinged for hands in the ruck. The hosts’ tails were up as they tapped through Genia just a few metres out and following good controlled carrying from the forwards, Genia’s flat pass sent Pocock over to the left of the posts.
With Foley’s successful conversion, the game was getting beyond Ireland’s reach. They responded positively with Larmour threatening from Sexton’s hack through, Henshaw bouncing up out of a tackle and Furlong and Aki linking smartly via an offload in front of the posts.
Murray’s frustrations boiled over when he was whistled up for a knock-on at a ruck, conceding a penalty in the process for back-chat. Replays showed the scrum half had reason to be annoyed, though, as Taniela Tupou should have been penalised for playing the ball while off his feet.
A last-minute penalty offered Ireland one last chance at getting over the whitewash, and while they did manage to do so through Murray’s replacement Marmion following solid carries from Cronin and Stander, TMO Skeen pinpointed a knock-on before the grounding. The decision left the Wallabies to celebrate their win, a deserved one given their ability to tactically outsmart and outmuscle their opponents at crucial stages of the Test.
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