Ireland held on to end their Autumn Nations Series campaign with another win as they edged Australia 13-10 in Dublin on Saturday.
A match that will not go down with fond memories, both teams were error-strewn and disappointing in possession and that showed on the scoreboard.
Ireland’s only try came late in the second period through replacement Bundee Aki while Jack Crowley converted and added a penalty before another substitute, Ross Byrne, nailed a touchline three-pointer with three minutes remaining that won the contest.
Crowley was a late starter after Johnny Sexton pulled out with a calf injury and the Munster man gave an assured performance at the Aviva Stadium.
For the Wallabies, this is their third successive loss on tour as their try came via Jordan Petaia, with Bernard Foley adding a conversion and penalty.
Victory for Ireland saw them become the first nation to defeat New Zealand, South Africa and the Wallabies in a calendar year since England in 2002.
Sir Clive Woodward’s men went on to lift the World Cup the year after achieving that feat and that remains the ultimate goal for Andy Farrell’s side looking ahead to next year’s showpiece tournament in France.
On this evidence, that dream seems a distant reality.
Farrell was far from pleased with what he witnessed in last weekend’s underwhelming 35-17 win over Fiji and ― Sexton aside ― welcomed back a host of players from injury as part of eight alterations.
The world coach of the year nominee would have taken little encouragement from a painfully stop-start encounter littered with sloppy errors, penalties and exchanges of possession.
Ireland defended doggedly in the face of incessant pressure for large parts of the opening period, including at one stage repelling 21 phases which sparked a rousing rendition of the Fields of Athenry, but offered little from an attacking perspective.
Australia thought they had scored a fourth-minute try, only for scrum-half Nic White’s effort to be disallowed on review due to Dave Porecki’s neck roll on Josh van der Flier.
Crowley, wearing the number 10 jersey embroidered with Sexton’s name, calmly slotted the only points of the half in the 10th minute, while rival fly-half Foley was wayward with a penalty at the other end.
Wallabies head coach Dave Rennie had retained just five of the players who began the embarrassing 28-27 loss in Florence.
Replacement hooker Folau Fainga’a was among the 10 men dropped and, having come on to replace the stricken Porecki, was sin-binned in the 37th minute after Van der Flier endured another high tackle, before Irish number two Dan Sheehan was held up on the line just before the whistle.
A poor ― and, at times, tetchy ― Test match was in desperate need of a spark.
Ireland scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park looked to have provided it seven minutes after the restart but his score was subsequently chalked off as Canberra-born team-mate Mack Hansen had gone into touch just before a fine offload.
Australia had briefly been reduced to 13 men at that point due to the temporary absence of Fainga’a prompting uncontested scrums.
Aki’s try was cancelled out by Petaia’s
The Wallabies came through a crucial period in the contest unscathed and were level in the 56th thanks to Foley finding his range with his second penalty.
Below-par Ireland eventually made a significant dent on the scoreboard 10 minutes later when replacement Aki came back with a bang by bulldozing over at the end of relentless pressure which prompted the sell-out crowd to finally find their voices.
Crowley added the extras but the joy was swiftly cut short as Wallabies substitute Petaia broke clear to cross wide on the right, with Foley landing the tricky conversion.
Ireland looked like they would have to settle for a rare draw but Byrne impressively held his nerve as the world’s top-ranked team scraped a ninth win from 11 Tests to round off an unforgettable year in unconvincing but victorious fashion.
In a tough and uncompromising encounter, highlighted by numerous brutal collisions, both sides scored a try apiece but Ireland secured the result – and the first-ever three-Test series between these countries – in the 79th minute courtesy of a Johnny Sexton penalty.
The Six Nations champions dominated for large periods – especially during the second half – and were deserved winners even though their hosts outscored them three tries to two.
They have now won their last two matches – against the All Blacks and Ireland (one and two in the world) – at the Queensland venue.
The result is a momentous one for the home side as it means they are the first Northern Hemisphere side, since England in 2003, to beat the Southern Hemisphere's traditional powerhouses of New Zealand, Australia and South Africa in the same calendar year.
The hosts were outscored three tries to two by the Wallabies but another incredible performance on defence — as was the case against the Springboks — was at the origin of a memorable win.
With many expecting a much closer scoreline than the one recorded, the visiting outfit will undoubtedly be delighted with their four-try win.
This talented group of Wallabies certainly had plenty of unwanted questions that were needing to be answered after that ldefeat to England in Sydney. And this stuttering performance failed to turn captain Rocky Elsom's frown upside down.
The Wallabies stepped up a gear from their defeat of England last week and delivered by some distance their most polished performance of the year, capped by a fine second-half try from Rocky Elsom, returning to Dublin where he was so revered earlier this year.
