Ireland took on Australia on a End of Year Tour Test. The game ended in a draw, 20 / 20.

This weekend’s results showed just how much the Northern Hemisphere Teams have progressed in a year!

Firstly Ireland A beat Tonga, then the French beat the Bokke. On Saturday the Italian forwards had the All Black forwards on the back foot for long periods in the match and they did not lose by far. Then England beat Argentina, Wales beat Samoa and Scotland beat Fiji.

But, let’s look at this match…. 2 converted tries a piece, 2 penalties a piece… and it ends in a draw.

Are all the Southern Hemisphere Teams suddenly “tired” at the end of a long season? Surely end of last year it should have been similar then, but it was’nt!

The match between Ireland and Australia see-sawed this way, then that way and with 19 minutes to go it was Wallabies 20 / 13 but the Irish fought back and dominated the last quarter, finally getting the last try just on full time, after continued attack on the Australian line, Brian O’Driscoll, the captain, finding the gap and scoring under the posts… the conversion was a mere formality.

It was a hard-fought match, with Kaplan, the referee from South Africa, handling the game very well.

Points:

Ireland: 2 Penalties & 2 Conversions Ronan O’Gara, 1 Try Tommy Bowe, 1 Try Brian O’Driscoll

Australia: 2 Conversions & 2 Penalties Matt Giteau, 1 Try Drew Mitchell, 1 Try Rocky Elsom

Players to watch

For Ireland: British and Irish Lions star Tommy Bowe has had a sluggish start to the new season but remains one of the most exciting players in European rugby at the moment – expect him to take the slightest chance on offer. Any fan of Irish rugby would have seen this debut coming – Cian Healy is a fantastic young talent and could help give the hosts the edge up front.

For Australia: Filling in for Berrick Barnes, Quade Cooper was brilliant last weekend against England. Inter-changing with flyhalf Matt Giteau, Cooper’s skills make him a man to watch. Hooker Stephen Moore was hugely impressive during the November series last year but will need another big performance this time around to give his side a fighting chance.

Head-to-head:

All three of the back row positions offer fantastic battles this weekend with the clash between David Pocock and David Wallace perhaps the pick of the bunch – youth versus experience – it’s going to be good! Wycliff Palu vs Jamie Heaslip – physical of note; Rocky Elsom vs Stephen Ferris – two vital ball carriers. In the backline there could be an interesting tussle between, the keen to counter-attack, Adam Ashley-Cooper and, cannon for a left foot, Rob Kearney.

Recent results

Jun 2008, Australia 19-12, Colonial Stadium, Melbourne
Nov 2006, Ireland 21-6, Lansdowne Rd, Dublin
Jun 2006, Australia won 37-15, Subiaco Oval, Perth_AUS
Nov 2005, Australia won 30-14, Lansdowne Rd, Dublin
Nov 2003, WC Pool A – Australia won 17-16,Colonial Stadium, Melbourne
Jun 2003, Australia won 45-16, Subiaco Oval, Perth_AUS
Nov 2002, Ireland won 18-9, Lansdowne Rd, Dublin
Oct 1999, WC Pool E – Australia won 23-3, Lansdowne Rd, Dublin
Jun 1999, Australia won 32-26, Subiaco Oval, Perth_AUS
Jun 1999, Australia won 46-10, Ballymore, Brisbane
Nov 1996, Australia won 22-12, Lansdowne Rd, Dublin
Jun 1994, Australia won 32-18, Football Stadium, Sydney 

The Teams

Ireland: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Brian O’Driscoll (captain), 12 Paddy Wallace, 11 Luke Fitzgerald, 10 Ronan O’Gara, 9 Tomas O’Leary, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 David Wallace, 6 Stephen Ferris, 5 Paul O’Connell, 4 Donncha O’Callaghan, 3 John Hayes, 2 Jerry Flannery, 1 Cian Healy
Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Tom Court, 18 Leo Cullen, 19 Denis Leamy, 20 Eoin Reddan, 21 Jonathan Sexton, 22 Keith Earls

Australia: 15 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 14 Peter Hynes, 13 Digby Ioane, 12 Quade Cooper, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 Will Genia, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 David Pocock, 6 Rocky Elsom (captain), 5 Mark Chisholm, 4 James Horwill, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements: 16 Tatafu Polota Nau, 17 Matt Dunning, 18 Dean Mumm, 19 George Smith, 20 Luke Burgess, 21 Ryan Cross, 22 James O’Connor.

Date: Sunday, November 15
Venue: Croke Park, Dublin
Time: 15.00 (15.00 GMT; 02.00 AEST, Monday, November 16)
Expected Weather conditions: While heavy rain is expected on Friday, Saturday is set to be sunny with a maximum temperature of 10°C.
Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Christophe Berdos (France), Andrew Small (England)
TMO: Geoff Warren (England)