Ireland's last five meetings with Australia
2006, June 24th
Australia 35, Ireland 15
The final score was a little harsh on Eddie O'Sullivan's men as they concluded their summer tour of New Zealand and Australia. Despite trailing 11-3 at the interval Ireland struck back to take the lead with tries from Ronan O'Gara - he latched onto David Wallace's pass to charge over - and Neil Best. O'Gara converted the latter to put Ireland 15-11 ahead and an upset seemed likely.
However, the visitors could not sustain that momentum and fell off the pace alarmingly in the final 20 minutes. Australia took full advantage crossing for a further four tries through Mark Gerrard, George Gregan, Cameron Shepherd and Greg Holmes. Stirling Mortlock tagged on three conversions. It was a tough finish to what had been a positive and encouraging experience for the team in the Southern Hemisphere.
At Subiaco Oval, Perth: Scorers: Australia - M Gerrard, G Gregan, C Shepherd, G Holmes, C Latham try each. Ireland - N Best try, R O'Gara try, pen, con.
2005, November 19th
Ireland 14 Australia 30
The previous week Ireland had been thumped 45-7 by New Zealand and while this match saw the home side produce a much better performance it still ended in disappointment. The Wallabies went into this game on a seven-match losing streak, the victory a huge fillip for their beleaguered coach Eddie Jones. A brace of second-half tries from Drew Mitchell and another from Chris Latham allowed the Aussies a comfortable victory.
It was a far cry from the debacle at Twickenham endured by the visitors just seven days earlier when their scrum crumpled like a concertina. Ireland put them under pressure but not in the same manner as England had. Malcolm O'Kelly was taken off on a stretcher and Ireland's only try came from Shane Horgan in the 77th minute. That gave the scoreline a little respectability.
Ulster's Andrew Trimble made a very promising debut.
At Lansdowne Road: Scorers: Ireland - S Horgan try, R O'Gara 2 pens, D Humphreys pen. Australia - D Mitchell 2 tries, C Latham try, M Rogers 3 pens, 3 cons.
2003, November 1st (World Cup)
Australia 17, Ireland 16
Once again Ireland were to be cast in the role of plucky losers following a Herculean effort in this World Cup pool match. Trailing 14-6 early in the second half, history and tradition suggested that Australia would hit the afterburners but instead it was Ireland who grasped the game by the scruff of the neck.
Brian O'Driscoll tiptoed down the touchline for a marvellous try - he also added a drop goal - as the Irish clawed back to within a single point. The visiting pack, led by the indefatigable Keith Wood, utterly eclipsed the Wallaby forwards. Paul O'Connell also thrived in his first full season of Test rugby, while Simon Easterby wasn't far behind. David Humphreys was desperately unlucky to see his sweetly-struck 45-metre drop-goal effort fade fractionally wide. The visitors probably deserved to nudge this one but came up agonisingly short.
At Melbourne Telstra Dome: Scorers: Australia - G Smith try, E Flatley 3 pens, G Gregan drop goal. Ireland - B O'Driscoll try, drop goal, R O'Gara 2 pens, con.
There was no Brian O'Driscoll, Gordon D'Arcy or Shane Horgan while Paul O'Connell started the game on the replacements bench. This was the first of three games on Ireland's summer tour that would take them to Tonga and Samoa. Ireland only trailed 14-13 at the interval but that was largely due to untypically lax Australian handling.
The home side blew through the Irish defence on several occasions but the visitors did have the satisfaction of scoring a superbly crafted try by John Kelly. Girvan Dempsey was wrongly identified as the culprit for killing ball close to the Irish line soon after the restart. He was sent to the sin bin and during this period Australian tagged on a further 14 points to their opponents' three. Elton Flatley scored 25 points.
At Subiaco Oval, Perth: Scorers: Australia - G Gregan 2 tries, S Kefu try, C Latham try, E Flatley try, 6 pens, con. Ireland - J Kelly try, D Humphreys 2 pens, con, R O'Gara pen.
2002, November 9th
Ireland 18, Australia 9
This is Ireland's only victory in the last five meetings and was achieved during a torrential downpour that all but flooded the playing surface. Ronan O'Gara kicked six penalties from as many attempts, a telling riposte to his critics after his travails in New Zealand with the Adidas ball. In those conditions all bar one tap over had to be considered hellishly tricky. It was a virtuoso outhalf performance.
The Wallabies elected to pummel the opposing outhalf channel and midfield, hardly ever going wide until the game was pretty much up. With the marauding Kevin Maggs-Brian O'Driscoll midfield double act in top defensive form, they rarely threatened. Shane Horgan made one great try-saving intervention while arguably the game's defining moment came when Stirling Mortlock failed to hold on to Stephen Larkham's defence-splitting inside pass in the 66th minute, just after Matt Burke had reduced the lead to 18-9.
At Lansdowne Road: Scorers: Ireland - R O'Gara 6 pens. Australia - M Burke 3 pens.
