The Qantas Wallabies have fallen agonisingly short of a series victory after Ireland prevailed 20-16 in a pulsating third and deciding Test match in front of a new ground record crowd of 44,085 at Allianz Stadium in Sydney on Saturday night.
Australia twice took the lead early in the contest, but went into the main break trailing by three as Ireland’s points accumulator Johnny Sexton nailed four penalty attempts in the opening half while both sides lost their captain to injury and had a player sent to the sin bin.
Wallabies skipper Michael Hooper left the field in the 16th minute with a hamstring injury, and Irish captain Peter O’Mahony joined him on the sidelines 15 minutes later when he fell hard after leaping for the ball from a restart.
Irish man-of-the-match CJ Stander broke through for the first try off a maul in the 44th minute which gave the visitors their biggest buffer of the match, 17-9.
The Wallabies response was strong as they dug deep and with an injection of fresh legs from the bench, most notably through replacement hooker Tolu Latu who delivered a powerhouse performance in attack and defence, the home side began to win the arm wrestle.
The lift in intensity soon reaped rewards, after Marika Koroibete beat a defender and carried Sexton over the line with brute strength after gathering Bernard Foley’s cross-field kick.
A controversial late Sexton penalty pushed the Irish lead back out to four, but the Wallabies launched one final raid after regathering the restart. After surging down field and pressing the Irish line with numbers to the right, a long ball from Foley found touch as the final siren sounded. French referee Pascal Gauzere sent it up to the TMO to check whether it had been touched by an Irish defender, but Aussie hopes were crushed when he ruled the vision inconclusive.
As it happened:
8 mins: Jonathan Sexton pen AUS 0-3 IRE
13 mins: Bernard Foley pen AUS 3-3 IRE
21 mins: Jacob Stockdale yellow card
22 mins: Bernard Foley pen AUS 6-3 IRE
30 mins: Jonathan Sexton pen AUS 6-6 IRE
31 mins: Israel Folau yellow card
34 mins: Jonathan Sexton pen AUS 6-9 IRE
40 mins: Bernard Foley pen AUS 9-9 IRE
40 mins: Jonathan Sexton pen AUS 12-9 IRE
44 mins: CJ Stander try, Jonathan Sexton con AUS 9-17 IRE
54 mins: Marika Koroibete try, Bernard Foley con AUS 16-17 IRE
79 mins: Jonathan Sexton pen AUS 16-20 IRE
Qantas Wallabies
15. Israel Folau, 14. Dane Haylett-Petty, 13. Samu Kerevi, 12. Kurtley Beale, 11. Marika Koroibete (23. Reece Hodge, 69 mins), 10. Bernard Foley, 9. Nick Phipps (22. Joe Powell, 61 mins) 8. David Pocock, 7. Michael Hooper (21. Peter Samu, 16 mins), 6. Lukhan Tui, 5. Adam Coleman (19. Rob Simmons, 45 mins), 4. Izack Rodda (20. Ned Hanigan, 72 mins), 3. Sekope Kepu (18. Taniela Tupou, 55 mins) 2. Brandon Paenga-Amosa (16. Tolu Latu, 40 mins), 1. Scott Sio (17. Tom RoberTson, 61 mins)
Ireland
15. Rob Kearney (23. Jordan Larmour, 60 mins) 14. Keith Earls, 13. Robbie Henshaw, 12. Bundee Aki, 11. Jacob Stockdale, 10. Jonathan Sexton, 9. Conor Murray, 8. Jack Conan (19. Tadhg Beirne, 68 mins) 7. Peter O’Mahony (20. Jordi Murphy, 31 mins), 6. CJ Stander, 5. James Ryan 4. Devin Toner, 3. Tadhg Furlong (18. John Ryan, 66 mins), 2. Niall Scannell (16. Rob Herring, 55 mins) 1. Jack McGrath (17. Cian Healy, 55 mins)
Match Notes:
Ireland wins best-of-three series 2-1
Ireland retains Lansdowne Cup (holders since 2014)
Match attendance 44,085 – new record for venue (Sydney Football Stadium) – previous 44,063 Wallabies v England, 2016
