Wallabies’ grand slam dream over as Ireland snatch draw

By Darren Walton, 16 Nov 2009 Darren Walton is a Roar Pro

Tagged:: Brian O'Driscoll, Grand slam, Ireland, Rugby Union, wallabies

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Wallabies v Ireland, Croke Park November 16, 2009. Wallabies drew with Ireland 20 all. Photo by Pothale

Australia’s grand slam dream is over after a heartbreaking last-minute try to superstar captain Brian O’Driscoll secured Ireland a dramatic 20-20 draw with the Wallabies in Dublin.

Celebrating his 100th Test in spectacular style, O’Driscoll sliced through a huge gap in the Australian midfield to score under the posts.

Referee Jonathan Kaplan blew fulltime immediately after Ireland five-eighth Ronan O’Gara drilled the conversion to shatter the Wallabies’s hopes of emulating Australia’s legendary 1984 tourists who completed the grand slam sweep over England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

After a dream start, with winger Drew Mitchell scoring in the third minute, the Wallabies were never headed and looked like storming Croke Park when inspirational captain Rocky Elsom crashed over in the left-hand corner to break a 13-13 deadlock 18 minutes from time.

The draw, which came on the first anniversary of Ireland’s most recent defeat, snapped the Six Nations champions’s eight-Test winning streak — but would have nevertheless left the Wallabies devastated.

They will head to Edinburgh on Monday gutted at watching their shot at history slip away so cruelly.

The day looked like belonging to Elsom, O’Driscoll’s former Leinster teammate who was back to his devastating best for Australia.

The tireless flanker got through a mountain of work, shifting bodies at the breakdown, securing lineout ball and capping his fine display with his 62nd-minute strike, after he reeled in a pass one-handed from prop Ben Alexander.

Giteau’s sideline conversion gave Australia a 20-13 lead, but the Wallabies were hanging on for grim life in the desperate closing few minutes.

A minute before O’Driscoll crossed, Ireland winger Tommy Bowe had a try disallowed after Will Genia, Peter Hynes, David Pocock and James O’Connor combined to hold him up over the line.

O’Driscoll made a horror start to his milestone match, the brilliant centre unable to take a wayward cut-out pass from Ronan O’Gara as Ireland looked to run the ball from inside their own quarter following a lineout win.

Mitchell gleefully swooped and raced 25 metres to score next to the posts.

Giteau’s conversion made it 7-0 after three minutes.

Ireland replied with two O’Gara penalty goals to reduce the deficit to one point after 22 minutes, before Giteau slotted one shortly after to give the Wallabies a 10-6 halftime advantage.

Giteau went close to extending the lead when he pierced the defence, only to be chopped down two metres out.

But the Wallabies would have been relieved not to have been trailing at the break after the hosts enjoyed their best period while Wycliff Palu sent 10 minutes in the sin bin for what appeared a magnificent hit on Ireland fullback Robert Kearney.

The Irish tried everything to break down Australia’s stonewall defence in the first half, with a saving hand from Giteau denying winger Bowe a five-pointer from a clever crossfield kick from O’Gara.

A second Giteau penalty goal increased Australia’s lead to 13-6, but Bowe put the Irish on level terms with a try in the 56th minute.

In his first match in Dublin since inspiring Leinster’s European Cup triumph earlier this year, Elsom seemed set to break Ireland hearts when he scored just after the hour mark.

Alas, it was O’Driscoll who had the final say.

View a photo gallery of the match, provided by Roarer Pothale.

: Wallabies v Ireland, Croke Park November 16, 2009. Wallabies drew with Ireland 20 all. Photo by Pothale

: Ireland backline in flight, Wallabies v Ireland, Photo by Pothale

: Maul, Wallabies v Ireland, Photo by Pothale

: Giteau lines up the tackle, Wallabies v Ireland, Photo by Pothale

: Palu high, Wallabies v Ireland, Photo by Pothale

: O’Gara clears; Wallabies v Ireland, Photo by Pothale

: Genia – Wallabies v Ireland, Photo by Pothale

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The Crowd Says (225) | Page 1 of Comments

Dingbat said | November 16th 2009 @ 6:49am | Report comment

Fun game to watch. Git had a problem kicking left to right for poles. That’s the difference between a win and draw. I reckon this Aus side is going to be great. Young and raw now; seasoned by the time RWC 2011 rolls along.

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Rockin Rod said | November 16th 2009 @ 6:57am | Report comment

Taotally agree, 2 more years experience for Pocock,Oconnor,Genia and Quade Cooper. WOW

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mick h said | November 16th 2009 @ 6:59am | Report comment

Very surprised at Deans’ decision to replace AAC with O’Conner with 10 to go when desperate defence was needed.
Australian forwards are getting better and smarter every game. Building building ever so slowly forward. The boys played well enough to win.
Anyway. It was a good game and quite fiiting result for 2 very evenly matched teams. 3 v 4 in the world rankings.
If you had have offered the Wallabies a win against England and a draw against Ireland before the tour I reckon they would have taken it.
Well done boys, now go on and win the next two.

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- Robbo said | November 16th 2009 @ 7:18am | Report comment
  
  Yeah I was very surprised too. A stupid decision (not that the fullback was actually involved in the last 10 anyway).
  
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Brett McKay said | November 16th 2009 @ 7:16am | Report comment

yeah, it was a great game. Australia looked too good for 60 minutes, and then Ireland looked like they might pull off the win in the last 20. In the end, 20-20 was probably a fair reflection of the contest..

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- Parisien said | November 16th 2009 @ 8:54am | Report comment
  
  I don’t agree. Australia controlled most of the game and should have won, but blew their opportunities to go further ahead on the scoreboard. Another one that they let the opposition back into.
  
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Pete said | November 16th 2009 @ 7:16am | Report comment

At this point the draw feels like a loss, seeing that it was snatched from us in the dying seconds… but how many times have we done that to Ireland?
I tip the boys will go through the tour being undefeated, which is still an achievment in itself!
The future for the Wallabies looks very promising!

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- Robbo said | November 16th 2009 @ 7:19am | Report comment
  
  I think Wales might sort us out. After all that was Ireland’s first game – they took 60 minutes to click – Wales are battle hardened.
  
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  - Pete said | November 16th 2009 @ 8:00am | Report comment
    
    I think they’ll beat Wales. Wales were attrocious against Samoa.
    
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    - Robbo said | November 16th 2009 @ 9:22am | Report comment
      
      Wasn’t exactly Wales “A team” though. Samoa were very unlucky to not win.
      
      If Wales play like they did against NZ they will win.
      
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      - Pete said | November 16th 2009 @ 12:37pm | Report comment
        
        Fair point. I think the yellow Welsh jerseys put them off their game
        
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Spiro Zavos said | November 16th 2009 @ 7:41am | Report comment

One of the most enjoyable aspects of the Test for me was the brilliant analysis provided throughout the match by Rod Kafer on Fox Sports.
Kafer was able to pinpoint exactly what was happening and what was not happening and why. This provided a terrific insight into the way the match was played. Even when the Wallabies had a 7 point lead and with time running out he insisted that this was not enough.
If the Wallabies had made the same assessment they would surely have taken 3 point with a dropped goal when they were hot on attack inside the Ireland 22 with about 10 minutes of play left. They did not do this and spilled the ball. Ireland went on the attack and camped on the Wallaby tryline until they scored their last-second try.
There was none of the moaning and groaning and over-excitement that the usual commentary team indulges themselves in. I think from the tone of the posts that Kafer’s timely words as play has led viewers to a better understanding of what was happening and why.
I agree with him, too., that the Wallabies kicked far too much. If they were good chasing the high ball like the Springboks, you could understand this. But I think they won only one of their balls in the air. But when they ran at Ireland they made pllenty of breaks. The pity of all this was that Matt Giteau’s break later in the second half when the Wallabies were leading by 7 points was not converted into a try. Giteau also missed a couple of penalties that usually he’d slot quite easily.
Against this I suppose is the fact that Ireland turned down a number of kickable penalties in the hope of scoring tries, a tactic that ultimately gave them their draw and stopped the Grand Slam quest in its tracks.

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- Ziggy said | November 16th 2009 @ 7:50am | Report comment
  
  I’ve always heaped praise on Kafer’s nouse on the game. Plus he never gets over emotional in his analysis but remains objective. Is there no role for him in coaching the Wobblies?
  
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- Howi said | November 16th 2009 @ 8:36am | Report comment
  
  Too little too late for me. After years of tolerating the buffoons in the foxsports box I tuned into a well-presented and uninterrupted program by Channel Ten. Channel Ten should be applauded for this. Listening to the accents from the commentary also adds a serve of nostalgia.
  
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  - Hoy said | November 16th 2009 @ 8:40am | Report comment
    
    I don’t like the foreign coverage. They miss a lot of aspects of the play that should be picked up. I had my heart in my mouth for a long while when I saw Digby go down, and then didn’t know wether he was right or not, as they didn’t comment.
    
    Plus they don’t replay what I feel are important passages of play, like Elsom’s try. We didn’t see the lead up at all, just him putting the ball down.
    
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    - Matt0931 said | November 16th 2009 @ 6:30pm | Report comment
      
      Hoy
      home team comverage is nearly always biased which is why it is great to have a mixed commentary. Viewers who prefer their sports through one way mirrors usually prefer the biased opinion though.
      
      Also, what you see on your screen in Aus, including replays, is not chosen by Aus. They get the same feed that is being given out to all countries from one production team which is usually made up of numerous nationalities as are many jobs in europe.
      
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- Bay35Pablo said | November 16th 2009 @ 8:47am | Report comment
  
  Sack the others, put kafer as king kahuna, and bring in papworth and the other ABC crew ….
  
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- King of the Gorganites said | November 16th 2009 @ 12:05pm | Report comment
  
  i would have liked the fox sports commentators to actually be at the ground. having commentators in a studio in oz loses the atmosphere. to save a few bucks it loses a lot. i note that the kiwis send over there commentators.
  
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- cookie said | November 16th 2009 @ 2:12pm | Report comment
  
  SPIRO agreed. still havent learned to close a game as you suggest .a drop kick indeed.
  who is culpable for this mental leap and oconnors introduction.beyond belief.
  but they are only young and there is always tomorrow!!!!!
  
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- Cattledog said | November 16th 2009 @ 3:43pm | Report comment
  
  This was another one that got away. However, a young side that will improve and be on the cusp perhaps of something great in two years time. Even though Kaplin ddn’t have a bearing on the outcome, WTF was that sin bin for? Crowd reaction me thinks. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander. Why wasn’t the same issued to the Irish full back on his attempt to stop Elsom’s try? Consistency helps, Mr Kaplan and don’t be concerned about what the referee coaches will say…there’s not much competition unfortunately at your level. Perhaps the coaching should be done by other panel referees, instead of the current has beens who are generally out of touch with reality…But that’s for another post.
  
  Mr Deans, your tenure I would think remains fairly safe at the moment. However, don’t start resting on your laurels, as there really aren’t any yet. Also, do your best to coach that jump out of Cooper before someone guesses right and shirt fronts him to an extent that he will no longer be available for selection…ever! Saw it happen once at schoolboy level, not pretty, and the guy who guessed right was not big! Also, attempt to have a look of confidence whenever the camera pans to you rather than the look of young O’Conner as he faces the haka. It would make the Wallaby fans feel a little easier! If you have a look of bewilderment, imagine how we will feel.
  
  In addition, please pass the replacement decisions to someone else, if in fact you are making them. Why you replaced AAC with young ‘rabbit’, unless due to injury, defies belief. As well as sorting Cooper’s jump, please sort out this penchant for kick, kick ,kick. Why not look at run, run, run, have the forwards secure good fast ball and run, run, run again. Sort that and our inept lineout and you may be in the ball game come RWC.
  
  I receive the games through one of the South African sports chanels with the accompanying commentary, usually the local one. Would have enjoyed listening to Kafer’s commentary as I believe he really is a scholar of the game and his views insightful. The Irish commentary in this case was OK, certainly better than the previous English one. I reiterate that Australian camera work in sport is second to none.
  
  Finally, Mr Deans, you have a young team who appear to be making headway. Fix some of the skill issues, continue experimenting but without failure, bring back some self belief for these guys. Contrary to what some Roarers say, you have the cattle, be it a young herd at this stage. In two years they will be older, wiser and a little more battle hardened. Sort the skills, take a leaf out of Rod McQueen’s book and give these guys self belief, and you have the recipe to give the RWC a bloody good shake up.
  
  Bring on Scotland and Wales.
  
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  - rugby scribe said | November 16th 2009 @ 9:14pm | Report comment
    
    I think AAC had a leg strain
    
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    - Cattledog said | November 16th 2009 @ 9:52pm | Report comment
      
      Think I subsequently read that somewhere.
      
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Brett McKay said | November 16th 2009 @ 7:46am | Report comment

“But I think they won only one of their balls in the air.” – Spiro, you could easily be talking about the lineout there too…

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stillmissit said | November 16th 2009 @ 8:00am | Report comment

Yes Spiro this was not a great performance in terms of between the ears but several players stood up. Pocock, for the first time in my estimation, played better than I have seen Smith play. I was amazed at how well he went. Ben Robinson did the hard work I have been accusing him of not doing and both Moore and TPN played very well. Digby Ioane went well apart from the missread at the end but you could argue that it was Ioane’s pressure that lead to Mitchell’s try.

The lineout is very poor with no structure and although Stephen Moore threw one poor ball several of the failures were due to poor execution and again not lifting properly or keeping it simple. The lineout didn’t lose us the game though and I feel as if we lost it rather than an historic draw. Our basic problem is poor kicking in general play and the poor chasing options and although this was a test match where field position is critical our kicking was so poor that it was only due to the amount of kicking we did that kept us in their half. This denied us the counter attacking options we usually take advantage of.

This was a rusty Ireland side that should have been put away. Australia 6/10 work harder.

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- Parisien said | November 16th 2009 @ 8:48am | Report comment
  
  Couldn’t agree more SMI. Ireland played quite poorly for most of the game, often taking the wrong options, and seemed very rusty. Their lineout and back row did well and kept them in it, but Australia could have and should have put Ireland away. They missed an excellent opportunity. The Grand Slam was beckoning and half way through the match looked more attainable than I ever suspected, and I mean no disrespect to Wales or Scotland, but this was the key match to win, gain momentum, and build upon…and they could have and should have won it! They dominated for most of the match.
  
  Giteau’s missed shots at goal, poor field kicking, weak lineouts (but they kept kicking for touch anyway), and when they did make a break, poor support play, all this contributed. When the Wallabies ran the ball with a bit more depth they looked dangerous, but would be let down with a poor final pass, or a player over-running the man (eg, Alexander, a prop!). Its as if they were not used to making breaks any more. The Irish only ran a few times but with pace and depth, and had Australia in trouble. Why did the Wallabies not run more? Have they become over conditioned, over structured? I want to see Ioane and Cooper run in space. And what was with Giteau’s poor field goal attempt early on that was not on, and badly prepared, to be charged down, when later when the real opportunity was there, nothing doing? Or the great break he made, to ignore the two players to his left at the end, three metres out?
  The reactions of the Irish players at the end of the match with hugs, smiles, and back-slapping said it all – they were relieved and happy, because they knew they had been dominated most of the match and managed to salvage a draw.
  Very disappointing, but hopefully an experience that will serve for later on. No, correction, who cares about later. Play some running rugby NOW! Lose, but with panache!
  
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  - mcxd said | November 16th 2009 @ 6:51pm | Report comment
    
    good summation Parisien
    
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TommyM said | November 16th 2009 @ 8:20am | Report comment

Very poor kicking and almost absent kick chase AGAIN Great work at the breakdown though and the scrum is becoming mighty. Pocock had his best game in gold. Was very unlucky with a few penalties in the first half where he was the tackler and on his feet and got pinged, but it went against island on the same ruling later. I actually wondered if Kaplan had forgotten about the rule change?! What struck me was that as dominant as our forwards were, we didn’t get much going in the backs. I thought the times we did was when QC came in to 10. I hope that with the game against Scotland next week, Deans will finally take the plunge and swap him and Giteau officially. With such dominance up front, we should have seen more tries, particularly in the first half.

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- Parisien said | November 16th 2009 @ 8:56am | Report comment
  
  Kaplan was his usual pedantic self, with some wrong calls for both teams.
  
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  - Robbo said | November 16th 2009 @ 9:24am | Report comment
    
    At least he was equally bad for both teams. I couldn’t believe how he could nit pick over the smallest infringements at the ruck and yet missed about 3 obvious forward passes from each team.
    
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    - TommyM said | November 16th 2009 @ 9:32am | Report comment
      
      He missed 3 Wallaby forward passes in the space of 15 seconds!
      
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      - Hoy said | November 16th 2009 @ 12:01pm | Report comment
        
        Well he missed two bad Irish ones in the same passage. Real bad.
        
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  - Working Class Rugger said | November 16th 2009 @ 10:47am | Report comment
    
    Parisien
    
    I’m still trying to work out why many of the penalties he dished out were even awarded. I tend to understand the reasons why most of the tme but he had me at sixes and sevens trying to figure out what game he was reffing last night. Several penalties on both sides were just stupid. Nothing illegal had happen. AAC was penalised in the ruck even though the Irish player was isolated and AAC was the tackler both on his feet and on the ball he was penalised. And of course there was Palu superb and entirely legal hit on Kearney. What was going on there?.
    
    The most irritating was the final scrum of the match. John Hayes buckled and turned in collapsing his side. This was intentional. The Wallabies were beginning to march the Irish scrum backwards and to prevent a tighthead he convienently lost his footing and fell into the scrum. From experience when you lose you footing you don’t fall forwad and in on an angle. It’s usually head first straight into the turf. How the hell does Kaplan still get these gigs.
    
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    - Colin N said | November 16th 2009 @ 11:29am | Report comment
      
      “AAC was penalised in the ruck even though the Irish player was isolated and AAC was the tackler both on his feet and on the ball he was penalised”
      
      That also happened to Heaslip and I think (?) Elsom.
      
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      - Working Class Rugger said | November 16th 2009 @ 11:45am | Report comment
        
        AAC was the one I remember first up. But as I said Kaplan’s decision went both ways. I’d imagine there are many confused Irishmen pondering similar things.
        
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Blinky Bill from Bellingen said | November 16th 2009 @ 8:21am | Report comment

Bugger! Thanks to work I was just too damn knackered to climb out of the cot to watch the game, and it sounds as if I’ve missed a good’n here.

Reckon I’ll have a chat to the manager of our pub and see if he’s okay with us watching the replay.

Oops almost forgot my manners, well done to both teams.

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- TommyM said | November 16th 2009 @ 9:33am | Report comment
  
  Replay on 1HD tonight if you’ve got a digital receiver.
  
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