The Wallabies have claimed back to back victories for the first time in 2013 with 32-15 win over Ireland in Dublin.
The Wallabies scored four tries to none in the 17-point win in a match where Quade Cooper led the side brilliantly, setting up tries and even snaring one himself.
The Match
There appeared to be some early nerves for both teams with poor execution in the opening minutes not allowing any real flow to the game.
Jonathan Sexton failed to find touch from one penalty and the Wallabies were pinged for numerous offences by referee Chris Pollock.
The Wallabies gave up three penalties within the first seven minutes but were the first to get on the scoreboard with a Quade Cooper penalty.
Ireland showed their intent with one rolling maul before spreading the ball wide but was shut down by the Wallabies defence.
The Irish were able to respond shortly after with a penalty from Sexton from right in front after another infringement from the Wallabies.
Last week’s man of the match Nick Cummins scored the opening try after 17 minutes after great lead up play from Quade Cooper who drew the defenders and found Stephen Moore out wide and, like last week, gave a great last pass for Cummins to score.
Ireland were looking a little rattled with Sexton missing an easy shot at penalty and then Brian O’Driscoll left the field for the blood bin. They went further behind after a Michael Hooper try on the left wing after a brilliant offload from Scott Fardy for the last pass.
The Wallabies scrum was still causing problems with timing issues on the hit allowing Ireland a great chance to hit back but all they could manage was another Sexton penalty to close the gap to 15-6.
The Irish were able to find gaps in the Wallabies’ kick chase on numerous occasions to keep them on the back foot and after 32 minutes Chris Pollock showed a yellow card to Michael Hooper for repeated team infringements.
Sexton added his third penalty of the night to keep them within reach of the visitors.
Just before half time the Wallabies were again penalised, a recurring theme for the half, and Sexton closed the gap to three points to make it 15-12.
The Wallabies started the second half well and it appeared Nick Cummins had scored his second of the night but the TMO found a knock on during the grounding of the ball.
From the resulting scrum the Wallabies wheeled and got the feed back and eventually Quade Cooper got his hands on the ball and weaved his way through the Irish defence to score the third Wallaby try of the match.
Cooper added another penalty on the back of an Irish error almost immediately from the restart to make the score 25-12.
Discipline again cost the Wallabies as another scrum infringement, in what was becoming a real issue throughout the game, allowed Ireland another three points to replacement fly half Ian Madigan.
With the match entering the final quarter, both teams rung the changes and the intensity dropped a little.
The Wallabies had one attacking lineout in the Irish 22 and from that they executed a brilliant rolling maul that saw Michael Hooper come up with the ball to claim his second try of the night. Cooper’s conversion from wide out made it 32-15 to all but seal the game.
But there was more controversy to come in the last ten minutes with Tevita Kuridrani issued a red card for a dangerous lifting tackle on O’Mahoney.
The Irish had their best chance of the half to add to their score but it came to nothing as a seven-man Wallabies scrum were able to get a relieving penalty on their own line.
The home side had one last crack and thought they had scored their first try of the match to replacement hooker Sean Cronin but a knock-on at the back of the ruck in the lead up was spotted by the TMO to deny them.
The 17-point margin may look good on paper but there will be plenty to work on before Scotland next week with discipline and the scrum areas to work on. A better side would have been more ruthless.
There will also be a nervous wait for Tevita Kuridrani as he faces the judiciary to answer the red card he received late in the game.
[one_half last=”no”]
The Game Changer
Cooper’s try early in the second half got the Wallabies back on track after a poor end to the first half.
[/one_half]
[one_half last=”yes”]
The G&GR MOTM
Quade Cooper – Led the side well setting up tries and scored
one of his own.
[/one_half]
The Details
Crowd: 53,000+
Score & Scorers
[one_half last=”no”]IRELAND: 15
Tries:
Conversions:
Penalties: Sexton 4, Madigan
[/one_half]
[one_half last=”yes”]AUSTRALIA: 32
Tries: Cummins, Hooper 2, Cooper
Conversions: Cooper 3
Penalties: Cooper 2
[/one_half]
Cards
32 min – Michael Hooper (Yellow)
73 min – Tevita Kuridani (Red)
