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By Phil Harlow
31 mins: Some quick thinking from Ronan O’Gara as he tries a cross-kick to Luke Fitzgerald, declining a likely three points with the kick at goal. It’s inches away from being perfect, but the Aussie defence just manages to spoil the chance.
29 mins: YELLOW CARD Sweet baby Jesus. Rob Kearney is absolutely flattened by Wycliff Palu in the tackle as he runs out of defence. Referee Jonathan Caplan rules that Palu did not use his arms in the tackle, but it’s a debateable call. Either way, I don’t think Kearney will try to run through Palu again. 27 mins: Lovely break from Matt Giteau - surely the in-form fly-half in world rugby union at the moment. He slices through to within three metres of the line, but the penalty goes Ireland’s way.25 mins: Awesome surge straight up the middle from Australia captain Rocky Elsom, straight from the kick-off. He busts through and makes a beeline for Ireland full-back Rob Kearney, but Brian O’Driscoll just gets a tap-tackle in on his former Leinster team-mate. Kearney is a relieved man, I would say.23 mins: PEN Ireland 6-10 Australia Yet another Australia line-out goes Ireland’s way. It’s becoming a real trend in the game, but Ireland need to do more with the turnover ball. They fail to get enough numbers to the breakdown and Australia win a penalty almost in front of the sticks about 30m out which Matt Giteau kicks.21 mins: PEN Ireland 6-7 Australia Ronan O’Gara takes full advantage after Australia are penalised for an offence at the line-out. Just one point in it.19 mins: Jamie Heaslip grabs an Australia line-out, not the first time the Wallabies have lost their own throw, and Ireland spring into attack. The ball comes out to Luke Fitzgerald on the wing, who chips over the top and races on. Drew Mitchell covers for Australia and his team-mates do just enough to retain possession and clear their lines. Still encouraging signs for Ireland.17 mins: Lovely footwork from Luke Fitzgerald as he chooses to run back a deep kick, beating four men in the process. I thought that running back from deep was against the rules these days15 mins: Matt Giteau misses with a tricky penalty chance from wide out after Ireland are correctly penalised for straying offside in defence.14 mins: Australia are starting to build some decent momentum here, with the ball going through the hands with some aplomb. There’s a few other international teams who could do with watching the video of this. Naming no names.
12 mins: Kicks for position don’t get much better than that as Matt Giteau strokes one that finds touch inches inside the corner flag. But the chance goes as the Wallabies are penalised for not keeping the gaps in the line-out. 8 mins: Matt Giteau has a long-range drop-goal charged down, and Ireland quickly snaffle possession as Adam Ashley-Cooper rather dithers in collecting the loose ball. But they don’t make the most of it, with Paddy Wallace running down a cul-de-sac on the blindside.7 mins: The first scrum is all over the shop and the free-kick goes Australia’s way. Anyone else getting more than a little bit bored of the constant resetting and offences at the scrum As it goes, Australia opt for another scrum. How times change.4 mins: PEN Ireland 3-7 Australia Instant response from Ireland as Australia are penalised for offside after a knock-on. Ronan O’Gara nails one from deep and Ireland get on the scoreboard.**2 mins: TRY & CONVERSION Ireland 0-7 Australia ** Whoops a daisy. Terrible start for Ireland and not what Brian O’Driscoll would have wanted with his first touch on his 100th Test cap. Ireland win the line-out just outside their 22, the quick ball is swept across the backline, but Ronan O’Gara’s pass gives O’Driscoll man and ball. The centre knocks on under pressure from Digby Ioane and Drew Mitchell plucks the ball up and gratefully accepts the gift. Matt Giteau kicks the conversion.
1 min: Ronan O’Gara kicks off and we’re under way. Aussie centre Quade Cooper - what a name, by the way - collects but hooks a rather ugby clearance just a few yards forward into touch.1503: Anthems are over and Croke Parl is ready. Let’s 'ave it.Ingathewinga on 606: "Some of the football has been absolutely boring so far this autumn. England v Argentina was pathetic with neither team running the ball - England choosing not to do so as their backline is horrible. The ABs were scrummaged of the park. South Africa were also diabolical against France - the have some awesome players but all they resorted to do were up and unders. Question - is international rugby losing it’s appeal as entertainment
That’s a big shout from Ingathewinga, but it’s hard to disagree too much. Let’s hope this match restores a bit of faith in Test match rugby.
1452: Let’s be honest, after Saturday’s somewhat tedious affair at Twickenham and not much better in Cardiff on Friday, we could all do with a bit of entertainment… A quick reminder of the teams ought to get the juices flowing with ball players like Rob Kearney, Brian O’Driscoll, Matt Giteau and David Wallace on show: **Ireland: **Kearney; Bowe, B O’Driscoll (capt), P Wallace, Fitzgerald; O’Gara, O’Leary; Healy, Flannery, Hayes; O’Callaghan, O’Connell; Ferris, D Wallace, Heaslip.
**Replacements: **Cronin, Court, Cullen, Leamy, Reddan, Sexton, Earls. Australia: Ashley-Cooper; Hynes, Ioane, Cooper, Mitchell; Giteau, Genia; Robinson, Moore, Alexander; Horwill, Chisholm; Elsom (capt), Pocock, Palu.
Replacements: Polota Nau, Dunning, Mumm, Smith, Burgess, Cross, O’Connor.
1449: Never let it be said that the BBC doesn’t voice both sides of the argument. Here’s Australia coach Robbie Deans: "Croke Park is a fantastic venue with great history and it’s a privilege to have the chance to play here. We’ve got total respect for Ireland. They’ve got a lot of belief, and their players have won two Heineken Cups. They are a mature group of players and we’re expecting them to be at their best."1446: Some pre-match thoughts from Ireland’s inscrutable coach Declan Kidney, after being reminded that his side are undefeated in 2009: "It’s a new season, everyone starts unbeaten so let’s see. It’s always a daunting task when you play one of the Tri-Nations sides, but we’re up for it."1441: All things considered, Ireland don’t have too bad a record against Australia: eight wins from 27 Tests. OK, not exactly brilliant, but it’s a lot better than their record against the All Blacks. The last time the Aussies came to Dublin - in the last game at Lansdowne Road before it was redeveloped - they were sent home with a 21-6 defeat. But two years later, Australia turned the tables with a 18-12 win in Perth. 1438: For fans of stats and world rankings - if Ireland can win today, they will officially move up from fourth to third in the IRB’s world rankings, leapfrogging the Wallabies. When you look back at the results of the Irish team of the 1990s - pre-BOD, if you will - that would be quite some achievement.1435: It’s a 100th Test cap for Brian O’Driscoll today - to date he has won 93 for Ireland and six for the Lions. Hats off to one of the modern-day greats. Here’s his thoughts on reaching the milestone:1430: Afternoon all, and welcome to Ireland v Australia - it’s live on BBC Two or, if you can’t quite be bothered to make it across to switch the TV on, then it’s very handily just above these words. Modern technology, eh Anyway, if you fancy getting involved, get stuck in on **606 **or send a text on 81111. It’ll be greatThis article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.