Roar Guru
The Wallabies will be out to atone for last week’s poor performance against the French by bouncing back against Ireland at Lansdowne Road. Join us on The Roar for live scores and commentary from 3:30am (AEDT).
Ireland are playing some of their best rugby ever, with two solid victories in their last two outings.
They managed to upset South Africa 29-15 before powering through Georgia 49-7, so the side is high on confidence and keen to claim another scalp.
Irish centre Jared Payne has been ruled out with a foot sprain and Leinster forward Mike McCarthy has also been ruled out with a concussion suffered against Georgia.
If there is any extra motivation to take into this game, it’s the fact that Ireland has moved up the IRB World rankings to third, a spot above Australia, following a run of six consecutive victories.
The Wallabies have come under scrutiny following a poor performance against the French last week and a get-out-of-jail win over Wales. Many believe the Wallabies are still going backwards but there were some signs against the French that the Wallabies could get it together before the end of the tour.
Israel Folau, Quade Cooper and Will Genia were all brilliant late in getting the Wallabies back into the game. It was the Wallabies defence that was disappointing, with a few soft tries letting the French take advantage early. No doubt this will be something Michael Cheika has addressed.
Cheika’s also brought about the changes with Kurtley Beale named on an extended bench while also making some changes to his starting line-up, with Henry Speight, Sam Carter, Luke Jones and Matt Toomua all included.
Joe Tomane, James Horwill, Sean McMahon and Christian Lealiifano have all been dropped.
This match will be about how the Wallabies respond to their criticisms and mistakes, and whether they can turn their poor form around. If they can put in a solid performance against the Irish we can safely say that they are on the right track heading to the World Cup.
Prediction
Cheika has worked his men off the field this week, expect them to end Ireland’s good run of form.
Wallabies by 7.