O2 MatchDay Live: Australia v Ireland
You can follow the fortunes of Ireland in Saturday’s Test match against Australia with our O2 MatchDay Live service. Get up-to-the-minute text commentary from Suncorp Stadium right here on IrishRugby.ie.
O2 MatchDay Live will keep you up to date with all the goings on in Brisbane as Ireland meet Australia in their final match of the summer tour.
The sides met at Croke Park last November, with a late converted try from team captain Brian O’Driscoll securing a 20-20 draw for Ireland.
An Irish side, with interim head coach Michael Bradley at the helm, fell to an 18-12 defeat to the Wallabies in Melbourne in June 2008, in what was the sides’ last meeting on Australian soil.
The current crop came to Brisbane on the back on losses to New Zealand and New Zealand Maori, but the latter performance gave Declan Kidney’s men plenty of encouragement for the final week of the season.
Chris Henry will become Ireland’s latest Test debutant when he starts at number 8 against Australia at Suncorp Stadium.
Henry is one of five changes to the team that faced the All Blacks in Ireland’s most recent Test. The other new inclusions are centre Paddy Wallace, out-half Jonathan Sexton and back row duo Niall Ronan and Shane Jennings.
There are two more potential debutants on the replacements bench, as Damien Varley and Rhys Ruddock provide back-up at hooker and in the back row.
Ireland have not beaten the Wallabies on Australian soil since June 1979, when current team manager Paul McNaughton was part of the victorious touring side.
O’Driscoll, who made his Ireland debut in Brisbane 11 years ago, said: “We haven’t won since 1979 – it’s a long time to not pick up a result and it just shows the difficulty we’ve had down here.
“We feel that we have the capabilities if we play to our strengths and play the way we know we can. Needless to say, it’ll be an extremely tough Test match, it always is against Australia.
“But the next opportunity is the best one to take and try to overturn the slide of defeats. It’ll take a big effort, but I know the capabilities of this squad and team and it’s certainly within our grasp.”
We will have live text commentary direct from Brisbane as Ireland look to claim their second Southern Hemisphere scalp of the season.
So plug in the laptop or turn on the PC and enjoy a flavour of Saturday’s game live on IrishRugby.ie with thanks to O2, sponsors of MatchDay Live.
There will be full live text and score updates throughout the coverage as Kidney’s charges clash with an Australian side smarting from a 21-20 defeat to England last weekend.
Starting at 10.30am with our pre-match build-up (the game kicks off at 11.05am Irish time/8.05pm local time), you can feel part of the action with MatchDay Live on IrishRugby.ie.
The match is being broadcast live on Sky Sports 1/HD1, with their coverage beginning at 10.30am.
Look out for the MatchDay Live button in the Ireland section of this website, or simply click on the link below: