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Earlier this year, Robbie Deans decided to travel to Europe to watch a couple of the Wallabies World Cup pool opponents in action – Ireland and Italy.
As some scribes thought at the time, he didn’t see much to worry about with Ireland scraping home against an Italian side that could easily have won with a last minute try denied by an even later drop goal. Australia could breathe a little easier.
Only problem was that Deans missed the two most critical matches when both teams turned out their best displays – Italy memorably beating France in Italy, and Ireland hammering England in a shell-shock match that had the eventual Six Nations winners gasping for breath after the pace of the match.
Just under a year ago last June, a somewhat callow Australia beat an under-strength Ireland in Brisbane 22-15. Both sides will be changed substantially by the time they meet up in New Zealand for their RWC pool match-up.
Munster – the famous red-jerseyed province have sustained the Irish team for the last seven to eight years. This year, the core of Ireland’s squad will have a new beating provincial heart – and it’s blue. Leinster blue.
It was evident in the game against England where the pace of the game simply blew away the English visitors. The barrelling might of loosehead Cian Healy, the solid presence of Mike Ross, the season’s find for finally anchoring the Irish scrum, rampaging Leo Cullen,the Leinster captain, and a backrow trio that is now probably the best in Europe – Shane Jennings, Jamie Heaslip and the newly crowned European Player of the Year, blindsider Sean O’Brien.
(Big creds too for Isa Nacewa, a nominee for ERC Player of the Year, just unfortunate that he can’t wear green.)
Coached by Kiwi, Joe Schmidt, Leinster’s semi-final Heineken Cup victory against four-time winners, Toulouse, was a contest of fearsome scrums, savage breakdowns, and scintillating backplay. Guy Noves, the multi-championship winning Toulouse coach, could only graciously admit afterward. “We learned something new today from a better team,” he said.
Darcy and O’Driscoll continue to defy the odds for club and country, and Eoin Reddan, Luke Fitzgerald and the injury-returning Rob Kearney are likely to grab two more spots on the plane.
Ronan O’Gara will play back-up to Jonny Sexton, with the Irish 10 making headlines across the rugby world with his recent tour de force in the Heineken Cup final last weekend against Northampton, where he scored 27 points to turnaround a 22-6 half-time deficit and win the cup for Leinster.
Eager Leinster and other Irish eyes will look forward to see how Australia fare in the coming Tri-Nations.
And if Robbie Deans has been paying attention since February, he should probably look a second time to see how Ireland perform in their warm-up matches against Scotland, France and England in August before they head for the Shaky Isles.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.