Ireland burn bright in gloomy Dublin
Irish cohesion trumps Wallabies
Ireland allowed their fans to dream of world domination after conquering not only Australia but tempestuous conditions in Dublin on Sunday, recording a remarkable 21-6 victory over the touring Wallabies.
Like England's progression towards Rugby World Cup 2003, Ireland are beginning to collect scalps from the Southern Hemisphere and the benefits of Ireland's policy of keeping faith in an established core of players is now evident for all to see.
Australia won't be the first side to put a loss down to that tired old excuse of 'RWC development' - and, indeed, some of their new combinations looked decidedly undercooked - but the inescapable truth is that they were second-best to Ireland in every facet of play.
The locals were simply outstanding, earning a standing ovation from a soaked but satisfied crowd not only at full-time but also as they trooped off for the interval. A rare honour indeed, but thoroughly deserved.
Both sides had beseeched the heavens to supply a dry canvas for their respective artists, but the gods failed to deliver the goods: the weather was worse than filthy. The rain lashed Lansdowne Road, coming down at all angles as a swirling wind took on the appearance of a nascent hurricane. Perhaps they won't have to demolish this old pile after all, it will just be carried off across Ireland before disappearing into the mutinous Shannon waves.
Somehow the conditions failed to dampen the spectacle. Modern rugby jerseys are not designed for the old up-the-jumper tactic, but credit goes to both sides for shunning all notions of safety-first, the handling was simply outstanding - this was bare-foot rugby on Bondi Beach rather a wrestle in an Irish bog.
The official statistics tell us that the Irish completed 119 passes and only committed 16 errors. It's hard to believe but it's near enough to the truth. Where are the All Blacks when you need them?
Wallaby skipper Stirling Mortlock landed two penalties but Australia never threatened to score a try and were not helped by having Phil Waugh and replacement Mat Rogers sin-binned simultaneously for fighting; Denis Leamy joined them for his role in the same sorry skirmish.
Ireland, who beat South Africa 32-15 last Saturday, pulverised the Australia pack with the maniacal Neil Best spearheading a dominant forward display that snuffed out a promising start from the visitors that bore an early penalty goal.
Ireland then staged a series of attacks which saw Australia's defensive line stretched to the limit. One raid produced 21 phases of play before Matt Giteau knocked Shane Horgan off course with a try-saving tackle.
Despite failing to secure the five points, the Irish began to believe in their own dexterity and continued to press. Geordan Murphy was the next man to come close, but the television match official ruled that a double-tackle by Chris Latham and Wycliff Palu had forced the Irishman to knock-on in the act of scoring.
But all was not lost, referee Marius Jonker went back to a penalty for off-side and Ronan O'Gara landed the shot at goal via a kind deflection off the uprights.
Australia were now under heavy pressure, turning over possession on their own line-out and relying on a last-ditch tackle from Mark Gerrard to keep out O'Driscoll.
Palu was penalised for holding onto the ball after going to ground and Ireland opted for the line-out after assessing the wind conditions.
Their decision paid dividends as the ensuing move led to a fine score in the left corner - following a juggling display from O'Gara.
The Munster fly-half attempted to offload but fumbled the ball and recovered as he went about running out of support.
He spotted Hickie unmarked on the left touchline and fired a crossfield kick which the Leinster wing gathered before jinking between three Wallaby defenders to score.
It was a magnificent finish from Hickie and Australia's problems deepened when Larkham limped off and was replaced by Rogers.
Gerrard kicked the ball out of play, allowing Ireland to stage a fresh assault which Horgan used to offload in the tackle to Leamy - and it took more desperate defending to keep the Munster back row out.
They could not be denied a minute into first-half injury-time, however, as they pinched a line-out and ran in a stunning try.
Superb handling from O'Gara released Gordon D'Arcy who dashed forward before feeding the outstanding Shane Horgan and the big Leinster winger drew Gerrard and supplied the scoring pass to Murphy. O'Gara converted to bring the curtain down on an inspired first half.
Australia drew first blood in the second period with a Mortlock penalty but Ireland were still in control thanks to the reams of possession secured by their pack.
O'Gara sent a penalty between the uprights to give Ireland an 18-6 lead and tempers boiled over in the 52nd minute when an exchange of punches between Leamy and Waugh resulted in a large meeting between minds and fists.
Both players were yellow carded and Rogers joined them in the sin-bin for involving himself in the fight.
Australia's discipline was in danger of disintegrating as Jonker penalised them 10 yards for back-chatting.
The Wallabies were seeing more possession but when Ireland came up with the ball in the 58th minute O'Gara sent them deep into opposition territory with a sublime touch-finder and then booted his third penalty.
O'Gara missed a penalty in the 66th minute but Australia looked dead on their feet and seemed incapable of staging a comeback.
Little more headway could be made as the conditions grew increasingly worse and the influx of late replacements disturbed the rhythm of the game - a common and highly frustrating aspect of modern rugby.
But it mattered not one wit, Ireland were already out of sight.
Man of the match: Rocky Elsom and Chris Latham kept the Australian flag flying, albeit at half-mast, but the Irish were so dominant that one feels compelled to hand out a joint 22-man award. The glories of Ireland's backline are well documented, but it was the Irish forwards who impressed on Saturday. Denis Leamy, bar some indiscipline, swatted the Wallabies off like flies and John Hayes got through a mountain of work in the tight, but our award goes to the marauding Neil Best who got himself absolutely everywhere, not least up the noses of the opposition.
Moment of the match: Ireland's second try was an absolute corker. Stolen line-out ball turned into points by the cunning of the backline spells 'teamwork'. But we'll opt for the crowd's standing ovation at the break which sums up Ireland's magnificent first 40 minutes.
Villain of the match: Denis Leamy and Phil Waugh deserve slapped wrists for their disagreement in the second half, but Mat Rogers deserves more for steaming into other people's business from 20 yards away. This one's for you, Mat.
The scorers:
For Ireland:
Tries: Hickie, Murphy
Con: O'Gara
Pens: O'Gara 3
For Australia:
Pens: Mortlock 2
Yellow card(s): Waugh (Australia) - fighting, 52; Rogers (Australia) - fighting, 52; Leamy (Ireland) - fighting, 52.
Teams:
Ireland: 15 Geordan Murphy, 14 Shane Horgan, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (captain), 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Denis Hickie, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Isaac Boss, 8 Denis Leamy, 7 David Wallace, 6 Neil Best, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 John Hayes, 2 Rory Best, 1 Bryan Young.
Replacements: 16 Frank Sheahan, 17 Marcus Horan, 18 Malcolm O'Kelly, 19 Simon Easterby, 20 Peter Stringer, 21 Paddy Wallace, 22 Girvan Dempsey.
Australia: 15 Chris Latham (vice-captain), 14 Clyde Rathbone, 13 Lote Tuqiri, 12 Stirling Mortlock (captain), 11 Mark Gerrard, 10 Stephen Larkham (vice-captain), 9 Matt Giteau, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 Phil Waugh (vice-captain), 6 Rocky Elsom, 5 Mark Chisholm, 4 Nathan Sharpe, 3 Guy Shepherdson, 2 Brendan Cannon, 1 Al Baxter.
Replacements: 16 Tai McIsaac, 17 Benn Robinson, 18 Al Campbell, 19 George Smith, 20 Josh Valentine, 21 Mat Rogers, 22 Scott Staniforth
Referee: Marius Jonker (South Africa)
Touch judges: Nigel Owens (Wales), Malcolm Changleng (Scotland)
Television match official: Mark Lawrence (South Africa)
Assessor: Brian Smith (Ireland)