Donal Lenihan: Have we been rumbled, and can Six Nations rivals capitalise?

Andy Farrell even took time out from Camp Ireland and captivated the audience not only with his take on Irish rugby history but on how important it was for his side the mark the landmark occasion not only with a win but with a performance to set his side up nicely for the forthcoming Six Nations.

While he got the desired result, Farrell will be disappointed that, once again, Ireland fell short on delivering a sustained 80 minute performance required to quash the growing perception that his side is not quite where it was just over a year ago.

Put it this way: the likes of France, despite having to travel to Dublin, and Scotland who host Ireland at Murrayfield, will believe they have every chance of winning those Six Nations clashes. When Fijian scrum half Frank Lomani expressed the opinion from within their camp that their Irish hosts vulnerable, Ireland didn’t like it. As the opening half against the Wallabies progressed and the visitors sprinted into a well-deserved ten point lead, Lomani’s comment sprung to mind. 

That 40 minutes was Ireland’s worst half of the entire series with an astonishing 16 handling errors - 28 by the final whistle - blighting their attempts to take control.

Speaking during the week, Paul O'Connell expressed the need for Ireland to do the basic things well. On that front alone, he will not be pleased with how things unfolded. On far too many occasions Ireland’s execution, be it at the breakdown or out of touch where they lost five of an unusually high 24 feeds, Ireland made far too many errors.

With Joe Schmidt directing operations, it came as no surprise that Australia got the better of the breakdown with their impressive back row of Rob Valetini, Fraser McReight and captain Harry Wilson creating havoc throughout. It was a perfectly balanced unit. On the flip side Ireland were guilty of either not resourcing the ruck sufficiently or being too slow to support the ball carrier.

One such occasion in that underwhelming first half cost Ireland a certain try when the hard-working Joe McCarthy affected a punishing carry to within yards of the Wallaby posts. Isolated after the tackle without any green shirts in close proximity to effect a clean out, McReight was straight in with hands on the ball to generate yet another relieving turnover, one of eight pilfered by the visitors at the line out or ruck.

Over the course of the month, Ireland’s attack has come under greater scrutiny with a growing feeling that teams are coming to terms with the multi-phase nature of execution. There appears to be a far greater emphasis by the opposition on keeping as many defenders on their feet, not over-committing to the ruck unless there’s clear sight of effecting a turnover. Australia certainly got the balance of this key element of their game spot on. That said, Ireland still outscored them by three tries to one.

As a result Ireland currently have an over-reliance on creating tries off five metre line outs which, admittedly, has become a rich source of five pointers this month. Once again they delivered two well-conceived tries from this platform with Caelan Doris clawing Ireland back into the contest immediately after the break and with eight minutes to go, young Gus McCarthy’s second try on his second appearance to see Ireland home.

Teams are becoming very aware of this and will do everything to limit the amount of visits Ireland make to their 22. It didn’t help Ireland’s cause in the opening half that even when they did secure that foothold meters from the line, their line out execution let them down.

Proof of the pudding comes from points scored on entry to this zone and the statistics are revealing. Ireland managed a measly 1.5 point average from an astonishing 12 entries compared to 4.3 points from Australia’s measly three incursions into Ireland’s 22.

On the individual front, most of the focus was concentrated on Sam Prendergast in only his second start at this level. Once again he displayed some great touches to put players through holes, took the ball flat to pressurise the Wallaby defence and pulled off two super kick passes to the wide channels. Throw in a try-saving tackle on Wallaby winger Andrew Kellaway and he has much to be pleased about.

As an exercise in exposing a promising talent to the demands of playing against Tier 1 opposition, it will certainly accelerate the development of a talented young man. That said, the introduction of Craig Casey and Jack Crowley as a fresh half back pairing with 15 minutes and Ireland four points in arrears, had the desired effect.

Casey, who has enjoyed an excellent campaign, lifted the tempo immediately while Crowley managed to get Ireland on the front foot once again and generated the vital field position that led to McCarthy’s winning score at the end.

Put it this way - if Ireland were playing England in their opening Six Nations game next week I’d be starting Crowley. Casey’s consistency over the series has also closed the gap between him and Jamison Gibson-Park.

While he’ll be mightily disappointed to have lost in the end, Joe Schmidt will know he’s not only on the right track but, with a bit more accuracy and discipline at crucial times, they could well have one this enthralling contest.

His biggest challenge now stems from the fact that Australia only have one warm up test between now and the Lions series which may retard the incremental gains made on this tour. Schmidt will also have endeared himself to the Australian rugby public - not easy for a Kiwi - over the course of the last few weeks but he is not a miracle worker. Australia still have a way to go to apply sustained pressure on the Lions.

This morning Farrell officially steps back from the Irish set up to start preparing for that tour, a looming campaign that added another layer of intrigue to his head-to-head with Schmidt on Saturday. The big question facing his temporary replacement Simon Easterby and the rest of the coaching staff before the six nations is - have teams worked out a way to frustrate Ireland’s predictable attacking shape and, if so, is their time to effect subtle change.

Given the historic significance of the game and all the talk around Cian Healy’s incredible achievement in surpassing Brian O Driscoll as Ireland’s record cap holder on his 134th appearance, Easterby will also have to resolve why Ireland appeared flat and off the pace in the opening half.

There’s a lot of work to be done before Steve Borthwick’s England arrive in Dublin on February 1st.