Rugby videos of tackles, tries, funny incidents and more: Ireland defeated by the Wallabies in Brisbane

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Ireland defeated by the Wallabies in Brisbane

The Wallabies beat Ireland 22-15 in a scrappy game at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium on Saturday. Quade Cooper shared kicking duties with Matt Giteau, but also scored a nice try of his own as Australia maintained their 31 year home winning streak over Ireland.

The home side led 16-15 at halftime before Giteau kicked two second half penalties to take the game away from the tourists, who end their 2010 season winless from their three matches in Australasia.

Both sides lacked the killer instinct on attack but Ireland can now relax and enjoy the break before next season, while the Wallabies will have some work to do before the Tri Nations kicks off in a few weeks time.

"I think we drew 20-20 with them last year and played a lot better in that match but we came out with a win tonight and you've got to be happy when you get up on the scoreboard," said Wallaby captain Rocky Elsom.

"I think we weren't sharp enough in attack tonight. We weren't on the same page and things only work for you when you're on the same page. We weren't tonight but we'll learn from that. The Tri-Nations is the most difficult tournament in world rugby so we have a lot of work to do," he added.

Ireland performed admirably considering their injury toll, but coughed up too many balls from handling errors, with captain Brian O’Driscoll himself being guilty of losing four.

"We haven't managed any victories on this tour and of course that is what you are judged on. We'd call it a learning curve," O'Driscoll said. "We wanted to put a bit of pride back into our defensive game as we let ourselves down against New Zealand.

"Although we had a couple of lapses against Australia, we were fairly solid. The lads will now enjoy four or five weeks of holidays and try to freshen up for next year."

If you're an Ireland fan, are you more than satisfied with the fight your side put up or do you think three losses on tour is unacceptable, and they should have won at least one match? For the Aussies, or Wallaby fans, how do you rate your chances in the upcoming Tri Nations?

Time: 05:00

first rugby!

By Anonymous, at June 27, 2010 1:38 pm
I think Australia will suffer in the Tri nations.

By Anonymous, at June 27, 2010 1:43 pm
Thank god that's all over. If i was Australian i'd be a bit worried about not being able to score more tries against a committed but second-string ireland. They have the players but it just doesn't seem to come together for them.

Hopefully now O'Driscoll, O'Callaghan et al. can get some proper rest now before the 2011 season!

By Third Centre, at June 27, 2010 1:59 pm
Remember that 8 of Australias first string team are injured so not the worst news. The majority will have returned fir the start of the tri nations so I'm not worried.

By JH, at June 27, 2010 2:32 pm
as an irishman,i wouldn't be neccesarily worried about the resultsd,but more the manner of the defeats.

ireland looked fatigued,mentally and physically,and were a shadow of the team that won the grand slam.o'driscoll in particular was playing at a fraction of his best.
its going to be a real job for kidney to boost this team again to previous heights,,but hopefully he can pull it off.

By Leeners93, at June 27, 2010 2:39 pm
Long season for the likes of B O'Driscoll and Kearney really showed, I think that if B O'D had been on any other day, Ireland could have possibly taken the game.

As an Ulster Man, I was really impressed by Paddy Wallace and Trimble. Was disappointed for Henry, the try marred what was a reasonable performance for his 1st Full International cap.

By Unknown, at June 27, 2010 2:43 pm
@Leeners93... it's was the final game of the season for Ireland so I wouldn't dwell too much and as for the WC I think the top 2 from each pool advance so as long as Australia or Ireland aren't on the wrong end of some epic upset by the USA or Russia we should be alllllllright.

By JH, at June 27, 2010 2:44 pm
on another note,was very happy with all the inexperienced players being blooded.buckley has come on a lot,and while he will never be a great scrummager,he has improved immensely in the loose.dan tuohy,niall ronan,and chris henry all played very well also.
however,in my opinion,it is time to reecall an old head:geordan murphy.he adds an extra dimension to irelands attack,and at the moment is far more solid than kearney

By Leeners93, at June 27, 2010 2:44 pm
Can someone please explain this advancing rule the aussies were penalised for? i dont get it :S

By john, at June 27, 2010 3:05 pm
If Ireland had the full team out, we would have won, O'Connell, Heaslip, Ferris, Flannery, Wallace, Earls, Fitzgerald and Darcy all missing. They are all big losses!

By JK, at June 27, 2010 3:14 pm
It was a good game of rugby to watch.henry and sexton played well.

By Anonymous, at June 27, 2010 3:25 pm
I like the way you irish supporters seem to find excuses with the long season and all, players injured etc and look at the positives of losing.

I commend your optimism despite losing 5 in a row, all the best for next season.

By Unknown, at June 27, 2010 3:42 pm
If Ireland had the full team out, we would have won, O'Connell, Heaslip, Ferris, Flannery, Wallace, Earls, Fitzgerald and Darcy all missing. They are all big losses!

But we didn't. That's what matters.

-Ken Gardener

By Anonymous, at June 27, 2010 3:53 pm
@ John:

As I see it, when Ireland kicked it into Aussie 22m, all aussie players in front of the receiver should have showed intent of falling back and geting "in-side". This is really just being picky by the ref and plain dumb by the OZ, as you just need to turn your back to the irish tryline and start walking ever so slowly towards the ball line to be considered as "showing intent to be put in-side".

Hope this helps you, and if I'm mistaken in any way, please someone correct me

By Xavier, at June 27, 2010 3:54 pm
i am not a fan of o'driscol but you have to acknowledge he is a legend, still breaking the game line at this age. i still think cooper is the best fly half in the world

By rosh, at June 27, 2010 3:58 pm
I like the way you irish supporters seem to find excuses with the long season and all, players injured etc and look at the positives of losing.

I commend your optimism despite losing 5 in a row, all the best for next season.

They aren't excuses, but they are valid reasons. Naturally, a very long season takes its toll. But more importantly, missing as many first and second string players as Ireland are missing will obviously weaken the team greatly. Why not take the positives out of the tour? 22 - 15 for a pretty poor Irish team. Not too shabby in my opinion.

To be honest, I'd be more concerned as an Australian fan. 7 points ahead this match against a shit team. 20 - 20 against Ireland last time.

Good luck in the Tri-Nations.

-Ken Gardener

By Anonymous, at June 27, 2010 4:06 pm
As an Aussie, I'm embarassed by this current Australian side. Injuries aside, it still doesn't excuse the lack of heart these players have.

If half your 1st string side is out due to injuries then it's the reserve players duty to step up and do their country proud. Instead it seems our side is happy using injuries as an excuse and only care about the nice paycheque coming their way win or lose.

Giteau is probably the biggest example of this type of player. Nothing infuriates me more than watching Giteau miss a penalty, much like the sitter right in front int he match against England, for him to turn around and even dare to smile with his "oh well, shit happens" attitude.

If Deans really wants to toughen up this batch of pretenders then he should be fighting for the board to introduce a penalty to their pay if they lose. Then we'll see how hard these guys will play when their wallet is on the line.

I'll be surprised if the Wallabies even win 1 match during the Tri-nations. I know for a fact that Palu and Polota-nau will be out for the entire season which is a massive loss but atleast Robinson and Alexander should be back to restore some pride to our scrum.

By Anonymous, at June 27, 2010 4:12 pm
RD, can you post Argentina vs France highlights? Looked like a smasher of a game, from what my mates told me

By Xavier, at June 27, 2010 4:23 pm
Thanks for the explanation there!

was pretty upset to see o driscoll and some of the irish make mistakes otherwise i think they could have taken the game to the aussies

By john, at June 27, 2010 6:52 pm
@ Xavier, yes, will do.

By GMC, at June 27, 2010 6:54 pm
Jesus, you'd think Ireland watched that first England-Australia match and thought Well, it didn't seem to work when England tried to force their way up the field bit by bit, but MAYBE it will work if we try it.

Ireland had more than a few chances to win this, but they spoiled it. I get that Ireland had a great defensive game, but I wonder if that was at a cost to an attacking mindset.

Where was Tommy Bowe this whole tournament? He's a great winger, but he was hardly involved in any of the matches. Strange...

By lawrence loves penalties, at June 27, 2010 7:10 pm
"Where was Tommy Bowe this whole tournament? He's a great winger, but he was hardly involved in any of the matches. Strange..."

I know! Apart from his intercept try against the All Blacks he was pretty much non-existent.

Both teams played poorly in this game I think, Irish handling errors and some awful penalty attempts by the Australians.

By Anonymous, at June 27, 2010 8:48 pm
It pains me to say this but if you watch the O'Drisscoll Break again bowe runs a switch line that is completely un registered to the aussie defence but o'drisscoll went wide with the pass, if bowe had of got the ball it was a certain try

By Matty10, at June 27, 2010 9:35 pm
Front Row is the key for Australia and always has been. If they have a good front row they win championships! (Daly,Kearn,McKenzie or Blades/Foley/Harry)

By DingoDave, at June 27, 2010 11:06 pm
'Beatrootz said...
I like the way you irish supporters seem to find excuses with the long season and all, players injured etc and look at the positives of losing.'

As a neutral and reading through the comments, I wouldn't say there is any hint of excuses....The Irish fans admit they were beaten...there appears to be one person who has mentioned injuries and said 'we would have won' (if not for the injuries)

But apart from that, it looks like you're trolling....

Infact, if you actually read them many are saying 'its been a long season' (full stop)

and not, "well we'd have won if this hadnt.....blah blah.."

By (u-p)rick, at June 27, 2010 11:08 pm
Losses are never acceptable, they are however understandable considering the circumstances. We were after all missing 7 of our Lions players and a host of our quality back up. I think most Irish fans that know about Irish rugby will see this tour as a step towards building our WC squad.

We've tested lots of new players against the best teams in the world and some of them really put their hands up. I agree with what BOD said that it's a learning curve. Hopefully Kidney will start Buckley and Sexton from now on. We've seen that Sexton combines well with Wallace. Cronin looks like he could be an excellent player as does Ruddock. Trimble looks very sharp and it's good to know we can call on the other players if we're ever stuck.

I think once we have our full squad back we'll be stronger because of this tour in the long run.

By Anonymous, at June 28, 2010 12:30 am
Poor performance by the wallabies. They had the worst first 10 mintues in a game that I've seen in a long time. Alot of little errors too. That ref was a wanker too pinging both teams for frivolous things.

Our chances in the tri-nations? None. If we can win 1 game I'll be happy. If we can win more than 1 I'll be even happier.

By aussiebeer, at June 28, 2010 12:49 am
Watch this in a pub without any sound, and more often than not could not make any sense of the reffing decisions. Partly because they seemed for trivial or non-existent infringements. Mostly because he seemed to have his own set of signals for penalties. There was one stage, according to his hand signals, he pinged the attacking team for not releasing the tackled player... Of course, that's not what he called, but its what he signalled!

About the reffing in general, it seemed very poor as it was all very picky and trivial, leaving both ireland and australia seeming confused about the rules (bad calls for both teams).

Perhaps it was clearer with the sound?

By granite, at June 28, 2010 4:40 am
poor game for both sides. neither really have anything to be proud of out of these series besides maybe blooding players.

Ireland missed a great chance to beat the aussies at home. If they had a full strength team they would have had a great chance, not that its an excuse, just a valid statement, aussies fielded a weak team, so all the home unions missed a great chance to take a southern team's scalp at home.

last year ireland england, and wales couldve had a chance against the all blacks at home, but they didnt tour , nor would they have had a full strength team because of the b&i lions tour.

hopefully for the aussies they can make something work, get the ben's back or hope the bus carrying the the springbok first XV runs into the all blakcs first XV. even though, i can't see evading the wooden spoon again this year.

By miguel, at June 28, 2010 8:53 am
WE can keep going on about how it was good to blood players etc etc and it will stnd to us come WC time....

BUT the fact of the matter remains Ireland will not get past the second round if our scrum does not improve immensely...Our scrum is shit and has been out played in basically every game this year and the results show the effect it is having on us....That Aussie scrum was basically arse raped by the English and that Aussie scrum overpowered us...What doe that say to what the English scrum and the French(who are even better again) will do to us in 2011 6 Nations...

By themull, at June 28, 2010 12:43 pm
Apologies i didn't realise australia were missing so many players. They will cick soon i'm sure (unfortunately it'll probably happen when we meet them in the world cup next year).

They have incredibly talented players and to be fair ireland have a solid defensive system and were bloody-minded in trying to keep the opposition out. Good luck in the tri-nations and please send Rocky back to leinster !

By Third Centre, at June 28, 2010 1:09 pm
Yeah, that was two weakened teams duelling it out, the Aussies probably a bit early in their season to have clicked, and the Irish totally wiped out by far too long a post-lions season. The fact of missing 7 Lions players tells you all you need to know about how punishing the modern game is - it's a real cause for concern.

As an Irish supporter, I thought we never looked like winning this - too many mistakes at key times, two bad tries conceded, and kept in the game by some picky penalties that the Aussies could feel hard done by. Our lineout was a shambles, the scrums were poor (against a much-weakened Aussie scrum)...lots to work on. I'm not sure how many of the second-stringers put their hands up.

Anyway, good luck to Aus in the Tri-Nations! And I hope our guys come back next year fit and refreshed.

By Mike, at June 28, 2010 1:54 pm
shame about the losses, Flannery, O'Connell and Heaslip would have made a huge difference and we might have won. But there's a lot of players now that know what it is to play test level rugby in the SH, it will stand to them come the world cup. Ok tour considering the circumstances, but disappointing not to get any wins.

By Anonymous, at June 28, 2010 2:01 pm
I just wish tony buckley could scrum. His scrumming abilities are dismal, and even though he is real good around the park, his weakness at scrum time most certainly will be a great disadvantage

By Xavier, at June 28, 2010 2:16 pm
It is a bit of a mystery why Ireland produce so few top-quality props. I have heard a theory that the de-powering of the scrum at schools level (even at U-19s you can only push a scrum 1 metre) means that ultra-competitive coaches are basically picking props who are more like wing-forwards, great around the park, but physically not at the races when the scrums get serious later in their careers.

I can't think of anything more plausible - we surely have as many prop body-shaped people in the population as anyone one else (in relative terms)?

By Mike, at June 28, 2010 2:51 pm
Matty10

Watching it live I couldn't believe BOD didn't give Bowe the pass. Had to have seen him. No Aussie defender near him too. Straight run in.

By Huh!! the 3rd, at June 28, 2010 3:22 pm
Third Centre, Henry's pass for the first try was a shocker and could be considered a bad try to conceed. Coopers try however was a piece of magic. You should applaud such brilliance, the words 'bad try' should not have been associated with it.
As an Irish fan I think Australia are a lot better than this tour showed and when they get they're front five back they'll be contenders for the tri nations. Everything has been said about Irelands performance already and most of which I agree with. I'm getting concerned for O'Driscoll's health. He's been taking and dishing out big hits for a long time now. I hope Ireland and Leinster treat him right and wrap him in cotton wool. In my opinion, he can make it to the WC next year but only if he's looked after.
I hope the whole team enjoy a well earned and overdue break.

By Patrick, at June 28, 2010 3:59 pm
Write the words "post-lions season" and I stop reading your nonsense comment. That phrase is as pointless as any. All of the major teams had touring test matches that summer, why the Lions tour is singled out beats me. Also, if you'll remember, there was another team that took part in that same series: South Africa. They seem to do just fine.

I guess that's the kind of crap you have to deal with after enjoying a great tour every four years - jackasses who keep it as an excuse for any post-tour poor performance.

And just to be clear, I'm first and foremost and Ireland supporter (after the Eagles, I guess). I just can't stand weak, repetitive excuses.

By harvey, at June 28, 2010 5:30 pm
My apologies, it was actually Mikes post I was replying to in my earlier comment, not Third Centre's.

By Patrick, at June 28, 2010 8:01 pm
"Also, if you'll remember, there was another team that took part in that same series: South Africa. They seem to do just fine."

I take it you've forgotten about SA's end of season tour in november then?

By Anonymous, at June 28, 2010 8:55 pm
Coopers try however was a piece of magic. You should applaud such brilliance, the words 'bad try' should not have been associated with it.

It was a good player taking advantage of some terrible, lazy defending.

By Anonymous, at June 29, 2010 2:41 am
I take it you've forgotten about SA's end of season tour in november then?

No, you smug tit. Their loss to Ireland was an amazing match and I still watch it time to time. But tell me this, why weren't the Irish team, who were brilliant then, "tired" after a post-Lions tour?

While there were some bad excuses for the SA losses in the midweek games and to Ireland, there wasn't much moaning about it being after a long Currie Cup season, a Lions tour, and winning the 3N. And both SA and Ireland have done fine since the autumn tour, until Ireland's somewhat recent decline (2009 is a hard year to match, though).

Yes, exhaustion is a very real concern for these professional players who often play too many games - especially if it leads to injury. I'm not denying that. I just think it's time to stop bringing up the Lions tour.

By harvey, at June 29, 2010 5:13 am
@harvey
I agree with you. I think the lions tour did not help the irish. It was a long hard season and if not for the lions tour the irish might have done much better

By Anonymous, at June 29, 2010 11:39 am
@harvey
I agree with you. I think the lions tour did not help the irish. It was a long hard season and if not for the lions tour the irish might have done much better

By Anonymous, at June 29, 2010 11:39 am
Harvey:

No, you smug tit. Their loss to Ireland was an amazing match and I still watch it time to time. But tell me this, why weren't the Irish team, who were brilliant then, "tired" after a post-Lions tour?

It's simple - because most of that Irish team was fresh and at the start of their season. The whole Bok panel had just been on a roll from Lions tour, the Tri-nations, the Super 14 etc, and were at the end of a very long season.

You can't dismiss something like fatigue (mental and physical) as an explanation for poor performance just because you hear it often. I often hear gun-shots to the head as explanations for people dying in gang-land murders - hearing it again in future will not make me doubt that it is true.

By Mike, at June 29, 2010 12:34 pm
While that's both humorous and true, Mike, I'm not dismissing fatigue. I'm dismissing the Lions tour as being the source of all these problems.

Of course the players get tired, and when they get tired, they can get injured, and injuries without a large pool of experienced players to pick from can lead to poor performances. I get that. I doubt, however, that the Lions tour is the catalyst.

By harvey, at June 29, 2010 9:56 pm
Regarding RDs question, are we more than happy to accept three defeats "on tour". Get a grip, these are shameless money making jaunts which should not happen because they pit one team that's experimental or not even properly named against another that is exhausted and injury raveged (though both teams were in this instance). I think end of seasons are bloody stupid, whether you are from the SH or the NH. Waste of everyones time.

By Anonymous, at June 30, 2010 3:35 am
Pfft, so just get rid of tours altogether eh?
Do you realise the unions rely on the November and June tours for income, they make millions of it which keeps the game going.
Also, you are basicaly suggesting that the 6 nations and 3 nations countries should only ever play each other, ever, unless they happen to meet at a World Cup.
That kind of attitude is ridiculous, do you even enjoy rugby?
You want to throw away over a hundred years of tradition and rivalry (the stuff that makes the game worth watching)?
That's so short sighted.

By Johan, at June 30, 2010 4:08 am
Harvey, you're right that the Lion's tour isn't particularly to blame here. I was just using it to show how much these guys have played since then with only a couple of weeks holidays.

To give you an idea how psychologically wearing it gets, I was speaking to a friend maybe 7 years or so back who knew one of Leinster's senior players. They had just lost a Heineken European Cup semi against a French team that they really should have won easily enough (at home). I asked him how his friend and the other players felt - I assumed they would be devastated. He said that they were just relieved the season was over, and that they were sick of rugby by that stage. I thought it was a very strange answer and it annoyed me at the time (I felt let down), but when you consider the battering guys take nowadays, it does make sense. I doubt you'll ever hear them say it publically though.

By Mike, at June 30, 2010 4:46 pm
"He said that they were just relieved the season was over, and that they were sick of rugby by that stage."

It's understandable though, too much of anything can get old fast. I've noticed the main thing Rugby players say about their end of season break is that they can forget about rugby for a while.

By Anonymous, at July 01, 2010 1:21 am
The problem is there are too many European club fixtures.
Too many competitions, alot of which aren't even of a high standard, so the players in them aren't really even improving much.

By Tom, at July 01, 2010 8:57 am