Ireland finished the Autumn Nations Series with a hard fought 22-19 victory over Joe Schmidt’s Australian side.
Ireland finished the Autumn Nations Series with a hard fought 22-19 victory over Joe Schmidt’s Australian side, with Andy Farrell no doubt being pleased to finish with a win before temporarily handing over to Simon Easterby as Farrell takes the charge of the British and Irish Lions. A packed out Aviva Stadium celebrated the 150 Year Anniversary of the IRFU with a roaring atmosphere, pushing Ireland to end 2024 with a win.
Farrell made five changes to the side that beat Fiji by a score of 52-17 last week, with Hugo Keenan, James Lowe, Jamison Gibson-Park, Rónan Kelleher and James Ryan returning to the starting team. The big news prior to the game was that Sam Prendergast started as number 10, ahead of Jack Crowley. The 21 year old kept his place in the starting fifteen despite expectations that Crowley would be back to replace him, especially after having been on media duties alongside his head coach earlier this week. Ireland failed to score a point without Crowley on the pitch against both the All Blacks and Argentina, so Prendergast had a lot to prove.
Other news surrounding the team prior to kickoff was that Bundee Aki kept his spot after a man of the match performance last week, as did Mack Hansen who scored two tries last time out. Jamie Osborne and Jacob Stockdale didn't feature in the team due to injury.
The Wallabies came to the Aviva after a mixed 2024. Having been disappointed to finish bottom of the Rugby Championship in September, they went on to best England and Wales in the Autumn Nations series. Joe Schmidt won three Six Nations titles in six years before leaving his role as head coach of Ireland after the 2019 World Cup, and despite being given a hero’s welcome in the Aviva Stadium, he’d have felt the need to get the best of his former team, especially after last week’s defeat to Scotland.
First Half
The first real chance of the game came around the four minute mark for Ireland as Hugo Keenan took the ball within inches of the line, before knocking it on. It was four minutes later that Australia opened the scoring with a penalty through Noah Lolesio, which was conceded by Joe McCarthy. McCarthy avoided a yellow card for his collision with Rob Valetini, but was ultimately responsible for handing The Wallabies the first score of the game following a relatively quiet opening ten minutes.
Australia gained momentum around fifteen minutes into the game with good play in the middle of the pitch. The eighteenth minute saw Hugo Keenan and Robbie Henshaw get in each other’s way and fail to catch a high ball, leading to Australia bringing it towards the line. Andrew Kellaway missed a strong opportunity to get the ball over the line on the right wing, Ireland’s Sam Prendergast coming up with a superb cover tackle to momentarily halt the attack. However, quick passing from the Australians ensured the ball was comfortably put down by Max Jorgensen on the opposite side for the first try of the game. Jorgensen just turned twenty this September and has been impressing for his team, the New South Wales Waratahs. Noah Loelsio converted to put Australia 10-0 up.
The twentieth minute saw an Irish penalty taken quickly, sending the Aviva Stadium into delight as to what the crowd believed was a try scored by Sam Prendergast. Referee Andrea Piardi was quick to end the joy of Irish fans as he called it back to be retaken, to which Prendergast kicked the ball out of play for a lineout. Irish bliss returned just two minutes later however as Josh van der Flier scored the first try of the game for Ireland, fighting hard to put the ball down over the line. A poor conversion attempt from Sam Prendergast left the score at Australia 10 - 5 Ireland, a little over midway through the first half.
Good chances for both sides were generated past the twenty minute mark with Joe McCarthy taking the ball near the Aussie try line and the opposition controlling their stages of possession well, culminating in Taniela Tupou running the ball down the field. Ireland regained possession but a penalty was conceded which Noah Lolesio took advantage of, increasing Australia’s lead by a further three points.
Minutes before halftime Ireland were penalised with a penalty given against Finlay Bealham for a late tackle, having connected with the Australian try scorer Jorgensen after trying to block the ball. The decision left the Irish crowd unimpressed, believing it to be an overly harsh decision. Strong play from Ireland followed, but they entered halftime remaining 13-5 down.
Ireland’s attack failed to fire in the opening forty minutes, despite getting themselves into dangerous positions.
Second half
Ireland came out strong in the second half, with good play in the opening stages and an excellent three points coming through a forty metre kick from Sam Prendergast just two minutes into the half. Despite a number of small errors, more strong Irish play followed and Prendergast got the chance to add two more points to his tally in the forty eighth minute after converting a try from a well worked line out which resulted in five points at the hands of captain Caelan Doris. With thirty minutes to play, Ireland took the lead for the first time, with the score set at 15-13.
Following Joe Schmidt’s earlier decision to replace Taniela Tupou with Allan Alaalatoa, Andy Farrell made his first substitutions of the day with Finlay Bealham, Joe McCarthy and James Ryan being replaced by Tom O’Toole, Iain Henderson and Peter O’ Mahoney, who some think may be making his last appearance for the national team.
Australia regained the lead through a penalty from fifteen metres. Ireland had been deemed to have not released the ball after counter-rucking and Noah Lolesio capitalised. More substitutions followed this as Gary Ringrose took the place of Bundee Aki and Billy Pollard replaced Brandon Paenga-Amosa for the Wallabies. The following minutes saw a further two Australian substitutions with Lukhan Salakaia-Loto and Tate McDermott coming on for Jeremey Williams and Jake Gordon.
Australia widened their lead with a sensational penalty kick from just past the halfway line was scored by Noah Lolesio after Caelan Doris was penalised for not releasing. Craig Casey, Jack Crowley and Gus McCarthy made their way onto the pitch shortly afterwards, with Jamison Gibson Park, Sam Prendergast and Rónan Kelleher making way.
The biggest cheer of the night, and perhaps the whole Autumn Nations Series, came at the sixty sixth minute when the Aviva Stadium crowd stood in applause as Andrew Porter made way for record breaker Cian Healy. Making his 134th cap for Ireland, he has now overtaken Brian O’Driscoll as the all time record appearance holder for the national team. Prior to today’s game, Andy Farrell spoke on the incredible achievement, saying “Cian is a giant of Irish rugby and we are determined to provide him with a performance that he deserves”.
A crucial and hard fought try gave Ireland the lead with seven minutes to play when Gus McCarthy trudged the ball over the line. It was advantage Ireland heading into the closing stages of the game after Jack Crowley converted, putting Ireland in the lead at 22-19.
Langi Gleeson made his way into the Australian side replacing Rob Valetini. Noah Lolesio also left the pitch making way for Tane Edmed, who made his first appearance for his national team today. The twenty four year old fly-half had just over a minute to impress Joe Schmidt, before leaving the pitch through a HIA replacement. Edmed looked devastated to have his debut cut short as he was replaced by Noah Lolesio.
With three minutes to go, Australia took off Andrew Kellaway for number twenty three, Harry Potter, hoping he could provide some late magic for the Wallabies.
After fighting in the closing minutes, Australia couldn’t string together enough of a play to make any difference, knocking the ball on at the death. The Aviva Stadium erupted, having marked the IRFU’s 150th anniversary with a 22-19 win over the Australians.
Caelan Doris was named man of the match in what was Ireland’s third consecutive win. Despite three wins following a disappointing opener to New Zealand, the Autumn Nations Series closes with a lot still to be desired by Irish fans. Andy Farrell’s men improved as the weeks went on, but there’s lots to work for Simon Easterby as he takes over on a temporary basis with Farrell now off to coach the British and Irish Lions in the summer.
Team Lineups
Ireland: Andrew Porter, Ronan Kelleher, Finlay Bealham; Joe McCarthy, James Ryan; Tadhg Beirne, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris (C); Jamison Gibson-Park, Sam Prendergast, James Lowe, Bundee Aki, Robbie Henshaw, Mack Hansen, Hugo Keenan.
Substitutes: Gus McCarthy, Cian Healy, Tom O’Toole, Ian Henderson, Peter O’Mahony, Craig Casey, Jack Crowley, Garry Ringrose.
Australia: James Slipper, Brandon Paenga-Amosa, Taniela Tupou; Nick Frost, Jeremy Williams; Rob Valetini, Fraser McReight, Harry Wilson (C); Jake Gordon, Noah Loloesio, Max Jorgensen, Len Ikitau, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, Andrew Kellaway, Tom Wright.
Substitutes: Billy Pollard, Angus Bell Isaac Kailea, Allan Alaalatoa, Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, Langi Gleeson, Tate McDermot, Tane Edmed*, Harry Potter.
Referee: Andrea Piardi
Assistant 1: Nika Amashukeli
Assistant 2: Gianlucca Gnecchi
TMO: Eric Gauzins