Tadhg Furlong scored his first international try and turned in a man-of-the-match performance as Ireland levelled the series with a historic 26-21 second Test win over Australia at AAMI Park in Melbourne.
Andrew Conway and Tadhg Furlong both touched down and Jonathan Sexton kicked 16 points to end Ireland’s long wait for a first victory over the Wallabies on Australian soil since 1979. There were 11 defeats Down Under during that 39-year period, including reversals at the 1987 and 2003 Rugby World Cups.
Roared on by a large and vocal band of supporters in Melbourne, Ireland showed the greater accuracy, urgency, dynamism and control of possession and territory, as well as winning the physical battle in which captain Peter O’Mahony and James Ryan revelled.
Sexton and Conor Murray’s excellent game management from half-back was matched by big performances up front from Furlong, O’Mahony, Ryan, Niall Scannell and Devin Toner in particular, while Rob Kearney, Keith Earls and Garry Ringrose, in the backs, stood out for their work on both sides of the ball.
Having been dented by Kurtley Beale’s early try, Ireland impressively accumulated 13 points while Marika Koroibete was in the sin-bin. Sexton converted winger Conway’s sixth-minute score and kicked three penalties, the last of them coming after an Australian maul had earned a penalty try.
Cian Healy saw yellow for ‘intentionally collapsing’ the Wallabies’ 25th-minute drive, but the tourists’ 16-14 half-time lead turned into a 26-14 advantage with a quarter of an hour remaining, following Furlong’s bulldozing try from close range and Sexton’s fifth penalty success of the night.
Michael Cheika’s charges made their opponents sweat late on when replacement prop Taniela Tupou drove over for a 77th minute, soon after Jack McGrath’s sin-binning for a deliberate knock-on at a ruck, yet Ireland stood firm – aided by the work-rate of debutant Tadhg Beirne and John Cooney, winning his second cap, off the bench – to get back to winning ways.
Giving his reaction afterwards, Ireland head coach Schmidt said: “I think we looked after our ball a lot better, there were probably half as many turnovers as we had last week, so that didn’t allow them as much access to play off turnover ball, where we know they’re so dangerous.
“I felt we repaired a bit of stuff in the air, I don’t think Israel Folau had as much access because Keith Earls was super in the air, he got very high. He’s not quite the same size as Israel Folau but he is dynamic when he’s going up for the ball.
“The scrum was nice and solid and I felt we even got a little bit of pressure at times, and the ball retention was good. Part of what we committed to here coming on the tour was to try to provide opportunity. It was great for Tadhg Beirne to make his Test debut this evening, and he acquitted himself really well.
“There were a couple of really good tackles in that last 15 minutes that he was involved, and Jordan Larmour…another really important investment for him to get really good time in a Test match where he’s going to be put under pressure in a Test match. I thought he acquitted himself really well. So, those aspects are things that are positives for us regardless of the outcome but we’re massively changing the outcome at the same time.”
“I thought Tadhg Furlong did incredibly well to reach out and score that try. He scrummed well, his line-break in the first-half – he got lonely, he was in so much space that he got a little bit confused but then he tried to throw this mountainous pass out to the edge which got intercepted. It’s not enough for Tadhg, he got it back then which was super play.
“Defensively, he worked really hard. He’s really deserving of that man-of-the-match award, there’s a few other guys like Pete beside me. Pete’s three turnovers were crucial and he’d a couple of really good ball carries, good lineout pressure that he provided. There’s James Ryan again, CJ Stander – that relentless energy that they bring to the side.”
Only 84 seconds had elapsed when Beale struck for the opening try, slicing in between Dan Leavy and Stander from Bernard Foley’s clever switch. The latter’s kick-off was tipped into touch by the otherwise terrific Toner, and 11 phases later, a midfield gap was opened up for Beale to burst through and score, with Foley converting.
Ireland recovered well as Furlong carried twice in a purposeful set of phases just outside the Australian 22. Koroibete’s leg-lifting tip tackle, which saw Kearney land on his elbow, resulted in a yellow card and the tourists scored from the following phase. Scannell connected with Ryan at the tail of the lineout and the maul allowed Murray to break to the right and float a long pass over for Conway to dive over in the corner.
Unfortunately, Conway (hip pointer) injured himself in the act of scoring as Dane Haylett-Petty hurtled across to try and deny him, and the Munster winger made way for Larmour soon after. Sexton swung over the conversion to level matters before the heavily-involved Ryan hoovered up a loose ball to charge back up past halfway.
By the time Koroibete returned to the pitch, Ireland had built a 13-7 lead with two Sexton penalty strikes punishing a collapsed scrum and rewarding O’Mahony’s swiftness and robustness at the breakdown. In between, the swarming green-shirted defence had pinned the Wallabies back, with Stander blocking down a Beale kick.
The scoreboard kept moving in the right direction for Ireland after Caleb Timu’s deliberate knock-on and another surefooted effort off the tee from Sexton, 21 minutes in. A kick ahead from Larmour caused problems for the scrambling Australian defence, with Kearney soon bumping off Michael Hooper’s attempted tackle.
However, the momentum swung back to the Wallabies on the back of two costly Irish penalties, losing field position and allowing the home pack to drive over the whitewash from a close-in lineout. It was a double blow for Ireland as referee Paul Williams awarded Australia a penalty try and sin-binned Healy for collapsing the maul.
Sexton pulled a long-range penalty wide after Timu had tackled Ryan off the ball, but Ireland maintained a physical edge and carried more of a threat despite being down to 14 men. A brilliant link-up between Ringrose and Furlong on halfway deserved a score but the pair were unable to exchange a return pass with the Wallabies looking exposed.
There were also some positive moments for Earls who beat Folau to a high ball, O’Mahony won a turnover penalty on Hooper and Robbie Henshaw did well to tidy up breaking ball from a kick, as Ireland ended the opening 40 minutes with a two-point lead and a much-improved collective showing compared to Brisbane.
With 65% possession and 70% territory, they deserved to be further ahead and they immediately went to work on the restart. Jordi Murphy swapped in for Leavy (sternum) and a broken arm ended Australian scrum half Will Genia’s night prematurely. David Pocock broke up a very promising spell for Ireland, which had been sparked by a Furlong pull-back pass, coupled with a ferocious following clear-out, and direct running from O’Mahony and Henshaw.
Kearney was throwing himself into everything, particularly in attack as he gobbled up clearances and consistently made the gold shirts work hard in defence. Beale’s high tackle on the full-back should have set up an inviting maul opportunity, but Rob Herring, fresh on from the bench, had his first lineout throw stolen by Izack Rodda.
Nonethless, the Irish attack lit up again in the 49th minute when Sexton’s inside pass sent Earls scurrying through into the 22, with Kearney up in support to keep the move going. McGrath’s double movement ruled out a try near the posts, and a few minutes later, TMO Ben Skeen adjudged that Earls was ‘not in control’ of the ball despite the winger’s excellent effort to stretch out for the line under pressure from Folau and Foley.
Australia’s indiscipline meant they were still in trouble – there were successive offsides – and the try eventually came, Murray playing a penalty advantage as he fed Furlong off a ruck and the burly prop powered out of Nick Phipps’ tackle to crash over to the left of the posts. Sexton’s successful conversion took the margin out to nine points – 23-14.
Ireland’s sharpness at the breakdown continued to frustrate the Wallabies, O’Mahony winning another turnover penalty inside his own half and then replacement Murphy got his hands over the ball just inside the Australian 10-metre line, forcing a 65th minute penalty which Sexton gratefully turned into three points.
It was an important penalty goal in the end as Australia came storming back in the closing stages. They had a few bites at the cherry, with obstruction ruining a maul chance and replacement Tolu Latu throwing a forward pass on their next surge up to the red zone. In between, their out-half Foley was fortunate to avoid a yellow card for a deliberate knock-on.
It was Australia’s 15th penalty concession of the match, and although Ireland had been the cleaner side up to that point, it was their turn to leak a series of penalties during the Test’s final minutes. Replacement Andrew Porter was penalised at scrum time, Toner infringed at a maul and McGrath’s stray hand at a ruck, which resulted in Phipps knock on, earned the loosehead a yellow card.
Although the Wallabies upped the pace again with a quick tap and Tupou managed to burrow in the 77th minute, five points is as close as they got as Ireland saw out a famous result under the AAMI Park floodlights – even with Joey Carbery having to come on as a late replacement for a cramping Toner.
On the injuries picked up ahead of next Saturday’s mouth-watering series decider in Sydney, Schmidt added: “I’d say Andrew Conway could train fully on Tuesday. He got a hip pointer and it’s just that bruise that’s debilitating at the time but, I think, that’s something that over the next 48 hours will wear itself through. I’d be really confident with Andrew.
“With Cian, it was just a smack on the AC, which again is temporarily debilitating but he could well be okay. With Dan, he got a whack on the sternum. Again, that is very uncomfortable but he could have potentially played on, but I thought Jordi Murphy went on and did a really good job in his place.”
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