These two sides always seem to be up for it when they meet, and this tasty encounter should be just as wild and entertaining with both teams confident of victory.
IRELAND vs AUSTRALIA
Saturday, November 16, 17:45 GMT, Dublin
Both sides had it a bit easy last week, with Ireland dominating Samoa and Australia running rampant over Italy, but should be a very tight contest. The historic favourites are the Wallabies, and both recent form and match selection lean in that direction as well. Winning in Dublin is never an easy task, however, and you can bet the Irish will be fired up at the kickoff. Whether they can maintain that energy for 80 minutes is another matter entirely.
After watching his fellow Leinster mate Jack McGrath announce his arrival on the international scene with gusto, Cian Healy will get his chance at loosehead this week. Captain Paul O’Connell is restored to the run-on team with Devin Toner edging Mike McCarthy to lock out the scrum. Chris Henry pulled a hamstring against the Manu so Sean O’Brien is back in at openside.
An old new halfback pairing is summoned, with Eoin Reddan partnering Jonathan Sexton, and Luke Marshall replaces Gordon D’Arcy’s beard at inside centre. The backs are otherwise unchanged, with Robbie Henshaw offering cover from the reserves alongside prop Stephen Archer and back row Kevin McLaughlin.
The Wallabes have shuffled their forwards again, bringing in Sekope Kepu for Ben Alexander who is dropped completely, with Paddy Ryan acting as backup tighthead. The Rob Simmons flank experiment has ended after one game as he reverts to the second row to make room for Scott Fardy, recovered from his head knock suffered against England. The return of long time injury victim Tatafu Polota-Nau is the only other change to the match day roster.
With a lineup closer to full strength than last week, Ireland are more than capable of an upset, though the Australians will fancy their game breakers to cause problems out wide where they have a definite speed advantage. Sexton’s tactical kicking will have to be accurate enough to avoid Israel Folau’s sensational counter attacking skills, and the combination of Toner and O’Connell should threaten Australia’s throw-ins.
Expect a passionate first forty from Ireland, with the likes of Peter O’Mahony and Rory Best getting stuck in, but over the long haul the width and pace of the Australian attack will be too much to handle. Ireland stay within touch until the final quarter when a late Wallaby score just pulls them out of reach. The visitors win this one by 10.
Referee: Chris Pollock (NZRU)
Assistants: Romain Poite (FFR) & Stuart Berry (SARU)
TMO: Geoff Warren (RFU)
