Centres lacking kilos but not grit

Australian reaction: It's 90 degrees in Sydney this morning. A beautiful summer's day. Not a cloud in the sky. How the Australians must have wished they were home as the Dublin rain continued to batter down late into the night.

Australia might not have liked it but the Irish backline's flair is supposed to be the main reason for this golden period. Forget that. There is a steel in this team never seen before in a green jersey.

Here's a good one. Brian O'Driscoll's opposite number Lote Tuqiri stated last week that "there are certain parts to his [O'Driscoll's] game where we can get at him. There are a couple of things there, and hopefully on Sunday we can reveal that."

The Wallaby centres, Tuqiri and captain Stirling Mortlock, had 10 kilos each on O'Driscoll and Gordon D'Arcy. In fairness to Australian coach John Connolly, when ducking the question on how his new pairing had performed, he paid tribute to the Irish captain. "I think O'Driscoll defensively challenged us when they got that momentum outside of us."

Regular viewers of Irish rugby have seen O'Driscoll's partnership with D'Arcy gelling like never before this season. Both men appear willing to sacrifice their own games to ensure the gainline is breached with regularity, D'Arcy in particular.

The Australians focused on the conditions. The only times Mortlock or Connolly had encountered such a miserable day was on separate trips to Wellington.

"Ireland held the ball, held the ball, held the ball," said Connolly. "Waited for penalties and just controlled it. Crept another 20 metres at times. Drove the lineout. They were incredibly patient. Showed a lot of composure. They were used to the conditions - 10, 12 and 13, I thought they played very well.

"They were just so good in the conditions and they are a great team. We saw that in the Southern Hemisphere in June where they led the All Blacks at half-time. They were close but we just pulled away in that game in Perth. They are a good team at this time of the year.

"We knew that before the game. We spoke about how to play them. We just didn't do it. They had a massive work-rate in that first half. That try at half-time is what knocked the wind out of us.

"I mean in those conditions it's hard to catch it. The support at the breakdown has to be massive. They were very strong at the breakdown and we just didn't have that composure.

On the sinbinnings of Mat Rogers, Phil Waugh and Denis Leamy, Connolly refused to bite. "I thought the referee had a very good game. It would have been nice if it was two (players) all.

"I thought in those conditions . . . (he stalls as the lashing wind threatens to blow the whole media centre over) . . . in these conditions, O'Gara, D'Arcy and O'Driscoll are so good. We don't play these conditions as well. I suppose at home we don't get the opportunity to play in the wet and the gales.

"They showed how to get their points into the wind."

When most reporters had drifted away, Connolly was asked an interesting question about Ireland's strength in depth and whether they can win the World Cup.

"That is certainly their Achilles' heel. They have four or five players that make a huge difference. O'Gara, D'Arcy and O'Driscoll are not replaceable. Then there is Hayes at prop and O'Connell at lock.

"But look at Australia, we won the World Cup in 1999 when we were ranked second or third in the world going in."

It was put to O'Driscoll last night that the World Cup is now between Ireland and New Zealand. "That's ridiculous," he remarked. "From our point of view it's about starting a World Cup year in good form. We've done that. It's always been Ireland's problem getting consistency of performance. It's important we don't drop below that bar."

Still, not too many Irish fans noticed the rain on the way home last night.