Classic RWC match - Wallabies vs Ireland 1991

Well, this thread is old, but it just so happens that it's this game I'm trying desperately to buy a copy of. What a cracker. What's sometimes forgotten is that it started with a bang. I haven't seen it since watching it 'on the day', but I recall a lineout within the first few minutes. Clearly, the Irish Captain, Mathews (?) and co had decided to unnerve to Wallabies and went straight at Willie Ofahengaue. I think Willie O threw two punches and that was that. Back to the rugby. The Irish, both hard men to be sure, realized that this Wallaby could hold his hands up and hit like a hammer. A fantastic game and, again, the one I'm most keen to get. If anyone can direct me to a DVD (online) retailer, I'll be very grateful. Oh, Campo had a fair sort of a tournament, too!

I love those uniforms. The 1984 uniform was great as well. Why can't we have outfits like that now. I'm so sick of these tight fitting tops that all the teams wear now

I was in year 10 at the time and because the whole form in general was misbehaving we were not allowed to watch the Ireland or New Zealand games. Our form master was an awesome rugby coach, Peter Armstrong. He is back in England now.

Some mates and I were recently sitting in the Oaks at Neutral Bay watching rugby on TV when one of the "5 Minute Angels" came around giving shoulder massages etc. We were actually talking about the RWC, and when we got onto the Gordon Hamilton try she let go with a broad grin...when we asked what she was smiling at, she informed us that Gordon Hamilton was her uncle. Apparently people still stop him in the street and congratulate him on the try, and commiserate on Irelands loss! Re the Wallabies vs England final, there was another great moment in that match where Poidevin took a short inside pass coming back towards the ruck, and was absolutely smashed by an England forward. Mike Teague is often given credit for the hit, but it was actually Mickey Skinner.....if you watch the vision closely, there is a wonderful moment a few seconds later where the camera zooms in on Skinner as he's waiting for the scrum and he looks at one of the reserves on the sideline, surreptitiously points at Poidevin and sort of snorts....as if to say "What did he think he was doing coming back inside like that?". And as for Eales on Andrew...it was less of a jersey tag or ankle tap, and more of a mowing down. The best thing is that there will be more moments like this to savour from this World Cup.

Spiro, The Wallabies probably dominated this match (the final) for 50-60 minutes, before emotion & fatigue set in. The Wallabies felt they had played their "final" the week before, beating the all Blacks. The English change of tactics were curious. Despite the critiscism, I thought they were right to change. They were thrashed by the Wallabies in Sydney, playing their traditional forward based style. Obviously, the plan in the final was to catch the Aussies off-guard with a change of tactics. It almost worked. The fact that it failed in the end should not detract from the fact it was a bold manouver, deserving of a better fate. But a superior team stared them down. Only just though..........!

Jools I think it was Rob Andrew who John Eales, in his first season of test rugby, ankle-tapped and prevented a try and England winning the final. Probably one of the great moments in Australian sport occurred not long after this incident when with minutes to go and the Wallabies holding a precarious lead they started to throw the ball around inside their half. Bob Dwyer, the Wallaby coach, suffered this excess of exuberance from the Wallabies for a few moments before he could take it no longer. 'Kick it to the shit-house,' he yelled out. 'Kick it to the shit-house.' The Queen sitting two rows in front of Dwyer and clearly within audible distance maintained a stony fixed stare on her face.

Memories..... When Gordon Hamilton scored the try for Ireland, I sat stupified, alone, in the wee hours watching the match on TV in Sydney. How, oh how, could such a talented team have let it all crash about them, I wailed? Then the match winner. I was too drained emotionally to cheer. Relief was an understatement. I appreciated that the Wallabies' get out of jail trick was a once in ten or twenty achievement. I believe many people felt the premonition that the Wallabies were now destined to win the 1991 WC. What would be the point of such a dramatic quarter-final win, only to blow it in one of the next two games? Michael Lynagh was a terrific captain. Quiter & less dramatic than Farr-Jones. Led by example. That's not to critiscize Farr-Jones, who was inspiring in his own way. It's one of those delicious questions - had Farr-Jones remained on the field, would he have made the same call Lynagh made? Gordon Bray, great commentator of his day. "The Taranaki pig farmer", & as he so descriptively & informatively referred to All Blacks scrumhalf Dave Loveridge. I had a crush at the time on ABC newsreader Angela Pearman, with her permed, tousled hair. The broadcast was of course, on the ABC then, & she would give her nightly updates. The wattle gold & bottle green. Great colour combo. For some reason, the gold went orange, then spew, before returning close to normality. The 1991 Wallaby outfit was great. Simple. Apart from adding the southern cross, it's the best jersey we've had, I reckon. What I love about the 1991 Wallabies, is that they won the WC with style, playing attractively. The 1999 Wallabies, by comparison, were probably a better team across the board, but didn't play anywhere near as attractively, the laws of the day preventing this.

I had followed all the games and remember the coverage that RWC was magnificent. Who could forget watching those immaculate bandsmen leading teams through streets then into stadiums, even at the minor games in remote venues? Wallabies always looked composed & threatening even after Farr-Jones injury. So when Hamilton scored (another 2 metres & he was caught), I had a good feel that Gold would come back........and they did!. Question to Spiros: Was it in the Final that Guscott was about 20 metres out and almost free when Eales just managed to grab his jersey from behind & stop him? That would have been Pom's try & was before OZ scored from back of lineout. Jools-USA .

This was the game that made me a rugby fan - I was allowed at 11 years of age to stay up and watch. My little heart nearly stopped during Gordy's try, and nearly stopped again with Lynagh's. My poor mum wouldn't watch, she was trembling in her room. These are the games I live for in World Cups - the to-the-death matches, where the players give it their all and leadership stands up and makes a difference. This was also the game where Willie O first threw a punch on the field I think? Where the Irish captain punched Willie a few seconds after kick-off, before the ball even landed. What a start to the game!

Agreed - far and away Lynagh's greatest moment in Wallaby colours. To gather the troops with such a clear head in a moment verging on chaos, then to execute with such aplomb was magnificent. Whilst the after the bell goals from Eales, Burke & Mortlock showed nerves of steel I believe the decision from the Wallabies to run the ball in the ultimate death or glory call showed incredible fortitude. It is no wonder that after that match they felt invincible. Re the commentary - the moments after that try are rightly considered some of the best commentary of all time for the total lack of comments from the commentary team as they soaked up the amazing feeling and let the viewers do the same. Was this match the catalyst of the Wallaby belief that they can win every match they play, no matter what the situation or their recent form? Whilst the Wallabies may go through rough patches, this underlying belief is something that other sides, in particualr the All Blacks, do fear.

It's not the same without Gordon Bray's commentary where he went NUTS! "CAMPESE! - LYNAH! - TRY !!! - YOU BEAUTY!!!"

I had the good fortune of being at the match that day. The Irish were in good spirits and went beserk when the Irish flanker went over in the corner. I remember there was a small cottage in the background of the corner of Landsdown Road. The crowd spilled onto the ground when Hamilton scored. They and and everyone else at the ground thought the match was won. We were in the stand on the opposite side of the field on the 22 at the other end of the ground. When Hamilton scored, the Irish all around us got so excited they threw their small whisky bottles in the air and started dancing in the aisles. The rest is history, the Wallabies worked their way back to the corner in front of us, fed the scrum and put it over in the far corner. We were going crazy, but the silence was deafening from the Irish. They couldn't believe their greatest moment had been snatched from them. When the full time whistle blew, the Irish around us , good sports that they are, congratulated us, wished us well for the rest of the Cup and said they were now right behind us in knocking over the All Blacks in the semi the following week. Later that night, we bumped into John Connolly ( who was there as Assistant Coach) at Kitty O'Sheas's pub - and had more than a a few Guinness .

I wasn't a fan of rugby back then but the highlights of the match make the hair stand up on the back of my neck. I agree with the gold jersey comment - Aussie uniforms should be like the Wallabies wore then and like the football team wears now. Gold shirts, bottle green shorts. The combo looked great for years on the rugby field and has looked great in Germany/Asia over the last couple of years.

I never saw the game, but listening to it I agree that the commentary stands out for being relaxed. In that regard, out of the current crop of commentators, I'd rather listen to Grant Nisbett.

I was up in the dead of night watching that game as a school kid. I thought Gordon Hamilton the Irish flanker had harpooned the Wallabies tournament when he scored with 5 minutes to go. Great character shown that day by the boys in gold!! Why can't the current Wallaby jersey be gold in colour instead of yellow...?!?!

This was Michael Lynagh's finest moment as a Wallaby, among a host of fine moments. Nick Farr-Jones was off the field injured, so Lynagh assumed the captaincy. He told his players that he would kick long after Ireland's bolt-from-the-blue try which gave them the lead with four minutes to play. He anticipated that Ireland would kick for touch and that the Wallabies would have good field position to launch a final attack. As it happened, Ireland muffed the kickoff and the Wallabies forced a scrum through David Campese of all people driving relentlessly in a maul to ensure forward momentum and the put-in (as the laws stood then. Lynagh then called a backline move which had worked all afternoon. He declined to try and drop-goal and go into extra time. The moved worked because of a fine pass from Tim Horan and a half-break by David Campese, the player of the tournament. Lynagh doubled around outside Campese, picked up a pass on his finger-tips and crashed across for the winning try. Simon Poidevin says that this escape-from-death try gave him a premonition that the Wallabies were a team of destiny in 1991. I must say that writing about this match for The Sydney Morning Herald I said the same thing, even though it was only later that I heard Simon Poidevin's comment.