Jonathan Sexton delivered the match-winning blow as his assured 78th-minute penalty strike guided Ireland to a 20-16 third Test win over Australia in Sydney and their first series success Down Under since 1979.
A record Allianz Stadium crowd of 44,085 was treated to another enthralling contest between these nations, and on a night when CJ Stander and Marika Koroibete swapped tries, Jonathan Sexton’s five penalty goals – four of them coming in a first half which ended 12-9 to Ireland – proved vital for Joe Schmidt’s history-makers.
The result, which was still in doubt up to a dramatic late TMO decision regarding a possible knock-on, seals an unforgettable 2017/18 international season for Ireland who completed a November clean sweep, secured their first Grand Slam since 2009, and followed up on Leinster’s Champions Cup and GUINNESS PRO14 double with an intense 2-1 series victory over the Wallabies.
Their retention of the Lansdowne Cup – the trophy played for when Ireland and Australia meet – was all the more impressive given that they had to bounce back from the disappointment of losing the first Test in Brisbane a fortnight ago, while the goal of blooding more players and testing the squad depth was also ticked off with 31 players getting game-time on tour, including debutant Tadhg Beirne.
It is another milestone achievement for Schmidt’s charges, who were led superbly by tour co-captains Peter O’Mahony and Sexton. Notably, they are only the fifth team in history to come from behind to win a three-Test series, following in the footsteps of New Zealand in Australia in 1932, South Africa in New Zealand in 1937, New Zealand in Australia in 1984 and the British & Irish Lions in Australia in 1989.
Ireland certainly had to show a huge amount of character, resilience and Test match toughness to get the job done. Already missing their regular skipper Rory Best through injury and some other notable absentees, Sean Cronin had to pull out of the starting XV with a hamstring injury and the team bus was held up in traffic on the way to the stadium, meaning they were 30 minutes late on arrival.
Speaking afterwards about the effort put by those on the pitch and off it, head coach Schmidt said: “A heck of a lot of it tonight was character. To get up off the ground, (Australia) laid siege to our 22 over that second 40 minutes. Maybe we should have gotten more out of our first half. A couple of times we got close and didn’t quite convert.
“I thought Murr (Conor Murray) got very close to the posts, we got a penalty out of that but not the try we needed. (It was a) great lineout drive to finally get that try early after half-time, to get the points differential we needed and the Wallabies came back and they came back in waves.
“I think it’s a credit to guys. Young Jordan Larmour on again and having to work really hard, Jordi Murphy coming off the bench, Tadhg Beirne. Those guys having to come in to what was a real furnace and they came out the other side. And let’s hope that that furnace develops the diamonds we need.”
He added: “It goes back to the provinces, they do a great job looking after the players, they manage them well enough that they can keep a bit of juice in the tank. I’m not sure we could play again next week – I think all that juice is used up after that half. The provinces do a great job building the base and then we try to top that off with a little bit of detail, organisation and just plain effort these boys put in.
“I take my hat off to the coaching team. Simon Easterby, that’s his try. The forwards put it on for him, but he did all the work for that lineout try. Greg Feek, we repaired the scrum from the first Test and we hung tough. Richie Murphy’s done a great job, we nail our goals, Andy Farrell, our defence was superb.
“I’ve got a great team. Jason Cowman makes sure that they’re fit enough to do the job, great medical team, and our analysis team of Mervyn Murphy and Vinny Hammond, they do a great job. It’s very much a collective effort, right even to the nutritionist – she cops a lot of flak from the boys who are very fussy about their good, but they get helluva well fed and Ruth (Wood-Martin) does a great job of that.
“Logistics were great, apart from the bus which we couldn’t do much about tonight! It took 13 minutes to get here yesterday, and it took over 30 minutes to get here tonight. So we were a little bit behind the eight ball but we didn’t look ruffled when we started. It was the first of the three games where we took a 3-0 lead, first time we scored first. That gives you a little bit of confidence.”
The energy was high from both teams right from the off, with Australia winning Bernard Foley’s kick-off and causing problems for the Irish lineout. O’Mahony and Rob Kearney featured prominently, winning an early breakdown penalty and getting a high ball back on Ireland’s side at a ruck respectively, before Sexton rifled over an eighth-minute penalty to punish Adam Coleman for not rolling away.
Australia were level within four minutes, Kearney’s foot on the sideline when clearing up a kick handing the hosts a five-metre scrum and an offside call allowed Foley to split the posts from the right. Up stepped the ever-ready Tadhg Furlong and Bundee Aki, who had one of his best games in the green jersey.
Furlong produced another barnstorming run and Aki’s sterling work on both sides of the ball helped to either launch Ireland forward or shut down the Australian midfield attack. Not for the first time in the series, David Pocock came up with a timely penalty win for Australia, although the ferocity of a Furlong clear-out beforehand led to Wallaby captain Michael Hooper sustaining a match-ending hamstring injury.
The action was now a mile a minute. Promising approach work involving Kearney, Jacob Stockdale and then a Sexton cross-field kick to Keith Earls was ruined by O’Mahony taking out a player past the ball. Shortly afterwards, Stockdale was penalised for his elbow making contact with Nick Phipps’ neck in an attempted fend. With input from TMO Ben Skeen, referee Pascal Gauzere produced the first yellow card of the night.
In Stockdale’s enforced absence, Foley squeezed his 21st-minute penalty attempt inside the right hand post for a 6-3 lead, Murray missed a long-range kick in response after Sekope Kepu was harshly whistled up for being slow to roll away. However, Ireland coped well while down to 14 men and impressed with their ball retention.
Man-of-the-match Stander was a nuisance for the Australian defence to contain, continually getting over the gain-line and barrelling forward in a superb spell from the Irish forwards. Aki and Robbie Henshaw also sucked in defenders with their sheer physicality, but Koroibete managed to catch Devin Toner with a crunching tackle and turnover ball allowed Kurtley Beale to kick clear.
Sexton slotted over a straightforward penalty on the half hour mark to square things up at six-all, following some further forceful carrying from the centres and James Ryan, and Australian replacement Pete Samu’s interference with Murray at a ruck right in front of the posts.
Lifted by Stander, O’Mahony suffered a heavy fall on his back at the restart as Folau made contact with him in the air. The incident was looked at closely by TMO Skeen and referee Gauzere whose decision to bin the Australian full-back drew boos from the home fans. O’Mahony, who matched Jack McGrath in winning his 50th Ireland cap, was unable to continue and had to be stretchered off.
With Niall Scannell’s improved accuracy in the lineout and Stockdale beating a couple of defenders on the short side, Ireland soon surged up into try-scoring range. They had the Wallabies pinned right back on their own line, but Murray was unable to get the ball down at the foot of the left hand post. Coleman and Kepu did just enough to deny him, but the pair were offside, with the prop also off his feet, yet the only sanction was a penalty which Sexton knocked over for a 9-6 scoreline.
Those three points were handed back when the Australian maul drew a penalty and then Murray was whistled up for offside as Beale threatened on the Irish 22-metre line. Foley’s kick was not the last scoring act of a tense, defence-dominated first half, though, as Samu Kerevi was caught offside from a Dane Haylett-Petty knock-on – Kearney got up in his face to force the error – and Sexton was on-target from the tee again to give the tourists a 12-9 buffer at the break.
Ireland were the aggressors when the second period got underway, Earls bouncing up out of a tackle and Aki swarming all over Phipps after Sexton dangled an inviting kick through which forced the Australian scrum half to play the ball close to his own try-line. He leaked a penalty, giving the Irish pack a gilt-edged mauling opportunity.
Five metres out, Scannell was pinpoint accurate with his throw and was on the cusp of scoring when Coleman, amongst others, was responsible for collapsing the Irish drive. The Wallabies were unable to hold out a second time, this time the Munster hooker throwing to Murphy, O’Mahony’s replacement, at the tail and a well-timed shove ended with the unstoppable Stander crashing over to the left of the posts. Sexton’s conversion missed on the near side at 17-9.
Nonetheless, Ireland could not build on that score as Australia had the better of the third quarter with their bench, particularly their front row reserves, upping the ante. They won a scrum penalty which Foley sent towards the corner in a statement of intent. Ireland tenaciously held them at bay, with a pass going loose off Folau’s fingertips and Stockdale hacking downfield.
However, the siege was not lifted as Murray was caught ahead of the kicker and Australia had the try they craved just a couple of minutes later. Their forwards took it up, battering away at the green defensive wall until Foley’s clever grubber kick in behind exposed Stockdale and it was hoovered up by Koroibete who powered past Kearney’s attempted tackle and reached over despite Sexton’s despairing challenge.
Foley added the extras to make it a one-point game and the Wallabies appeared to have the upper hand, continuing to draw penalties as Stander was isolated near halfway. The hosts’ passing let them down, however, and Larmour, who replaced Kearney at full-back, showed his pace on the counter to gain some much-needed territory.
Ireland’s defensive workload increased again after Cian Healy was penalised at scrum time, Foley kicking them up the line as they looked to hammer home their dominant share of second half possession (71%) and territory (65%). After Koroibete cut in off his wing in dangerous fashion and Henshaw was penalised for a high tackle, Foley fluffed his lines when curling a 66th-minute penalty wide.
Ireland dug their heels in with James Ryan and Jack Conan, who topped the tackle count with 20, putting in tireless displays and replacement tighthead John Ryan scrummaging well off the bench. The Munster-bound Beirne replaced the latter for the final 10 minutes and quickly got up to the pitch of the game, and although Kerevi’s strong run through midfield forced the tourists to scramble back, a Foley knock-on allowed Ireland to regroup.
The fresh legs of Beirne and Larmour were utilised as the Grand Slam champions took play back up to halfway, also benefiting from some cracking counter-rucking led by Aki and James Ryan. Earls was called back for a foot in touch, yet Powell’s subsequent forward pass gave Ireland the platform of a scrum just inside the Australian half.
Despite Stockdale being tackled in touch off the set piece possession, Australia lost their discipline when it mattered most. A few phases later, Larmour did brilliantly to win a high ball and Folau was penalised for a deliberate knock-on. The talismanic Sexton kicked Ireland back into Australian territory and used the Murphy-won lineout to carry hard into contact himself.
Tolu Latu was told that he was off his feet but failed to heed the referee’s warning and was promptly penalised, offering up a left-sided place-kick. It was the winning and losing of the match, Sexton stepping up to drive over the decisive penalty on a night when he became only the second player after Ronan O’Gara to score over 700 points for Ireland.
There was still time for some last-gasp drama. Folau’s athleticism helped Australia to reach the 22 in ominous fashion. Foley attacked wide to the right but his misfired pass went straight into touch. There were question marks over whether Stockdale had got his hand to the ball and knocked on, but TMO Skeen told the referee there was ‘nothing clear and obvious’, sealing the Wallabies’ fate and ensuring that the Lansdowne Cup is on its way home to Dublin.
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