Duncan Casey: As Wallabies found to their cost, Ireland aren't that predictable

Ireland made 16 handling errors in the first half, one every two and a half minutes. While Finlay Bealham was the most egregious offender – knocking on two simple passes in 11 minutes – his mistakes were simply emblematic of the inaccuracy that was visible everywhere. One of my former teammates said he would have spent the post-match celebrations following Bealham around, throwing random objects at him and yelling ‘catch!’. You won’t get far without thick skin in this game.

Despite the underwhelming nature of the performance, there were plenty of positives to take from the game. The standout of these, ironically, involves the lineout. The lineout has been a lightning rod for criticism in the last year and for good reason. At a macro level, the percentages haven’t been good enough and a strong set piece is no longer the bread and butter of the Irish team that it was for many years. Ireland were given 23 lineouts on Saturday – a staggering amount – illustrating how little the Australians fear the Irish lineout, certainly compared to two years ago.

Within that wider, long-running saga, the variation and creativity Ireland have shown in their lineout attack in the opposition 22 in November has been hugely encouraging. All three of Ireland’s tries on Saturday came off lineout launches in the 22. It won the day against Argentina and it won the game against Australia as well. Two of Saturday's tries – van der Flier and McCarthy’s – came off five-man lineouts, five metres out. It’s rare to see teams running a five-man option so close to the line.

That’s because, generally, you want the option of mauling from that distance and mauling off a five-man is risky business. Fewer bodies means less protection and a shorter distance from front to back. It’s easier to sack at source and easier for a good ‘swimmer’ to work his way over the top and use his long levers to get a hold of the ball carrier at the back. It shows a level of thinking outside the box which bodes well for the adjustments Ireland now have to make as teams get to grips with what has made them so good.

Australia weren’t expecting Ireland to run this option and were caught on the hop. In fact, there’s a great visual of this confusion just before the lineout that leads to van der Flier’s try in the 23rd minute. Ireland set up a five-man with van der Flier at scrum-half and Doris out with the centres in midfield. Australia match up with a five-man and hooker Paenga-Amosa in the channel. The spare forward is openside Fraser McReight, who lines up inside winger Max Jorgensen, first in the defensive line. Just before Kelleher throws in, McReight turns to Jorgensen and throws his hands up as if to say, ‘where am I supposed to be?’. If you can, have a look for this in the highlights as it’s quite telling. 

Tadgh Beirne gives it off the top to van der Flier who hits Gibson-Park at first receiver. He gives it to Doris who is flanked on either side by his centres. Prendergast and Hansen come barrelling around the back of that pod, which forces the Australian 13, Suaalii, to back off from Doris in case he gives it to them.

The idea is a simple one: have your best ball carrier running in space at backs instead of forwards. Doris carries hard and, with the support of strong latching from Henshaw, gets ten metres of gain line and sucks in four Australian defenders. This destroys their fold and two phases later, it’s another forward/back mismatch as van der Flier knocks winger Kellaway onto his arse and finishes from a short distance out.

Doris’ own try in the 49th minute came off a different variation, a seven-man lineout with Gibson Park at the front and van der Flier at scrum half. It ultimately served the same purpose as the earlier five-man option – force the centres to get involved in the first phase because the pack is bad at getting around the corner. Clever decoy lines and options suck both Ikitau and Suaali in again, and the disconnect between the folding forwards and the outside backs gives Doris a gaping hole to power through.

While Ireland’s performances didn’t light up the rugby world in this series, they identified chinks in their opponents’ armour and found innovative ways to exploit them. On Saturday, it was the Australians’ inability to fold properly after conceding gain line on the first phase. Against Argentina, it was hitting the maul early and leaving space around the seams. The ability to adapt week-on-week, add new options and be clinical with the opportunities when they arise, gives you a way to win when other things are going wrong. Ireland seem to be doing that much very well right now.

It was minor in the scheme of things but my highlight of the game was Australian tighthead Taniela Tupou’s 50-metre gallop up the middle of the pitch following a beautifully read intercept in the first half. There are few things more wonderful on a rugby pitch than seeing a guy with three on his back running at full tilt in open space, and few more frustrating things than a guy with three on his back doing something stupid with the ball.

Tupou managed both in the space of a few seconds, undoing all his good work picking off Doris’ inside ball to Henshaw by inexplicably attempting to throw a no-look pass over the back of his head when the Irish defenders finally caught up with him. In fairness to Tupou, he probably doesn’t find himself with 50 metres of open space in front of him terribly often and it’s possible he thought he was in some parallel universe where tightheads can attempt speculative moves like this and they stick.

If the expletives Joe Schmidt appeared to be uttering in the coaches’ box afterwards are anything to go by, that will probably be the last time Tupou attempts something like that.