Australia managed to hold on in the face of a fierce Irish onslaught to sneak a 17-16 victory in their final 2003 Rugby World Cup Pool A match in Melbourne. The victory sees the Wallabies top the pool and it sets up a quarter-final match against Scotland next week, while second-placed Ireland will have to face France.
This was a superb match that could have gone either way, both teams showing a real willingness to play positive attacking rugby and contribute to this fine advertisement for indoor rugby.
More like a knockout game than a mere pool tie, this game had everything that the aficonado could desire -- two well-matched packs knocking lumps out of each other; dazzling strike-runners out wide; and the requisite big hits in midfield.
With very little difference between the two teams in terms of pace, power and intensity, the result came down to the finest of margins, with the wayward goal-kicking of Ireland fly-half Ronan O'Gara in the first half having major repercussions.
Ireland may also regret their decision to spurn a kickable penalty in the final quarter of the match and are unlikely to make the same mistake again during the rest of the tournament.
But in the final analysis, Australia deserved to shade this contest, their uncanny ability to raise the tempo of the game at just the right moments giving them the victorious edge.
But, of course, they did not have it all their own way and from the start, as the strains of "Fields of Athrenry" echoed off the roof of the Telstra Dome from the many thousands of green-clad fans around the stadium, it was apparent that Ireland would take strength from their huge travelling support.
Ireland got off to a rousing start, their forwards making an immediate incursion into their opponents' territory to give O'Gara his first chance at goal.
But he was not able to find his range in this early attempt and a few minute later it was Ireland who were feeling the pressure, some slick handling and excellent continuity taking play right down into the Irish 22.
With the referee's arm already out for the penalty for an Irish off-side, Wallaby skipper George Gregan took the ball in midfield and slotted a very neat drop-goal to open the scoring and settle some early nerves.
Just two minutes later, after more excellent work from the Wallabies in the midfield, Ireland were pinned back into their own territory again.
As the ball zipped back from a midfield ruck at double-quick pace, a superb long pass from Elton Flatley made room for George Smith to gallop in untouched in the left-hand corner.
That made it 8-0 -- Flatley missing the conversion -- and there were ominous signs for Ireland that they were going to struggle to deal with Australia's wide game, although Ireland were able to claw back three points some moments later when O'Gara was successful with his second penalty attempt.
That was quickly negated by the boot of Flatley, the centre slotting a penalty in the 17th minute to make it 11-3.
O'Gara missed with his third penalty attempt in the 22nd minute after Australia collapsed a maul way out left following a promising Irish attack, but it appeared that the Wallabies were dealing easily with whatever Keith Wood and co. could throw at them.
Ireland's best attack of the half came some 10 minutes later -- the Men in Green matching the slick handling of their opponents to punch some holes in midfield. As a ruck was set up in the Australia 22, Flatley got his body on the wrong side to give the penalty away and O'Gara kicked his the points to keep Ireland in touch.
Then, as the half ran down, there was controversy after a ruck degenerated into a free-for-all on the ground following Shane Horgan's rough footwork on Mat Rogers who appeared to be handling the ball in an illegal position.
With several players from both sides drawn into the conflict, New Zealand referee Paddy O'Brien calmed things down, showing both Horgan and Rogers the yellow card.
Save for one length-of-the-field Australian move which was stopped by a brilliant cover tackle from Peter Stringer, that was the last act of the half, intimating that the final result was no foregone conclusion.
The second half started at high pace, the Wallabies noticeably upping the tempo of their play to stretch the Irish defence from the outset.
Australia had their first chance of points just a minute after the break, when O'Driscoll attempted to bring down George Smith by the non-IRB approved "dreadlock tackle" method, but Flatley was just short with the penalty kick.
He made amends some minutes later, kicking a penalty following an off-side decision against Ireland prop John Hayes.
But Ireland stormed right back into the match some minutes later, taking advantage of a moment of madness from the normally cucumber-cool Wallaby No.10 Stephen Larkham.
Larkham opted for a quick throw-in just five metres from his own tryline, nearly gifting Ireland a soft try as Wood and Stringer hared up in pursuit of the ball.
While Australia survived that close shave, it gave a precious attacking platform for Ireland and, showing great ball retention, the Irish battered the Wallabies' defensive line before the ball was shifted wide to O'Driscoll.
As two defenders closed in on him, O'Driscoll showed perfect finishing ability to dive in at the corner -- the video ref rubber-stamping the try a few seconds later.
Unbelievably given his problems throughout the match, O'Gara slotted the conversion from wide out, to put Ireland within a point of their hosts.
Flatley, however, restored the four-point lead with another penalty some moments later, but there was plenty more drama to come.
As the match reached the final quarter, Ireland fought to save the match, a huge up-and-under raining down on the Australia tryline with Horgan in hot pursuit.
The big winger got hands to the ball but just could not keep hold of it, knocking on in the in-goal area to allow Australia supporters to sigh a huge breath of relief.
But the tension was heightened in the 68th minute -- O'Driscoll kicking a drop-goal to bring his team within a point of the world champions.
Both sides stuck to the task as the clock ran down and with less than five minutes of the match left, replacement David Humphreys let fly with another drop-goal attempt.
The ball went wide -- and with it went Ireland's chance of topping Pool A as the Wallabies held their nerve for the frantic last few moments.
While there could only be one winner, both sides will go into the last eight full of confidence that they have the all-round game to launch an assault on rugby's ultimate prize.
Man of the Match: A number of top performances on both sides, not least Ireland skipper Keith Wood who was an irresistible force in the loose, with Peter Stringer and Paul O'Connell not far behind him in the honour roster. But we'll go for Wallaby back rower George Smith, who was "Mr Perpetual Motion' throughout proceedings.
Moment of the Match: Some excellent moments in this encounter -- not least Brian O'Driscoll's thumping tackle on Joe Roff, which rocked the Wallaby wing to his bootstraps. Then there was O'Driscoll's brilliant dive into the corner for a try at the beginning of the second half. But we'll go for George Smith's try, demonstrating, as it did, a perfect combination of power, pace and guile from the Wallabies.
Villain of the Match: Aficionados of the "biff" would not have been disappointed by the flashpoint in the dying moments of the first half when several Australian players took exception to the harsh rucking of Shane Horgan on Wallaby fullback Mat Rogers -- on the wrong side -- and retaliated. No major damage done, but yellow cards for Horgan and Rogers, earning them this accolade. A dishonourable mention goes to Irish centre Brian O'Driscoll for his hair-pulling antics on George Smith at the start of the second half.
Yellow card(s): Mat Rogers (Australia), Shane Horgan (Ireland)
The Teams:
Australia: 1 Ben Darwin, 2 Brendan Cannon, 3 Bill Young, 4 David Giffin, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 6 George Smith, 7 Phil Waugh, 8 David Lyons, 9 George Gregan (c), 10 Steve Larkham, 11 Joe Roff, 12 Matthew Burke, 13 Elton Flatley, 14 Wendell Sailor, 15 Mat Rogers
Reserves: Matt Cockbain, Matt Giteau, Jeremy Paul, Alastair Baxter, Daniel Vickerman, Lote Tuqiri
Unused: Chris Whitaker
Ireland: 1 John Hayes, 2 Keith Wood (c), 3 Reggie Corrigan, 4 Malcolm O'Kelly, 5 Paul O'Connell, 6 Simon Easterby, 7 Keith Gleeson, 8 Anthony Foley, 9 Peter Stringer, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 11 Denis Hickie, 12 Brian O'Driscoll, 13 Kevin Maggs, 14 Shane Horgan, 15 Girvan Dempsey
Reserves: David Humphreys, Eric Miller, Marcus Horan, John Kelly, Donncha O'Callaghan
Unused: Shane Byrne, Guy Easterby
Attendance: 54760
Referee: O'brien p.
Points Scorers:
Australia
Tries: Smith G.B. 1
Pen K.: Flatley E.J. 3
Drop G.: Gregan G.M. 1
Ireland
Tries: O'Driscoll B.G. 1
Conv: O'Gara R.J.R. 1
Pen K.: O'Gara R.J.R. 2
Drop G.: O'Driscoll B.G. 1
No comments:
Post a Comment