Thank the rugby gods for Quade Cooper. Had the Australia fly-half not stepped and sleight-handed his way around the field, there would have been nothing memorable in Ireland’s final match of the season.
Ireland produced their best performance of the tour. That is not saying much. They have now lost their past three internationals. The summer will be long for Declan Kidney as he wonders whether the salad days of this side are behind them.
Admittedly many of Ireland’s forwards were injured but they are the same men who struggled against Scotland and capitulated against France. The next generation were outplayed by the Wallabies at the scrum. There can be no worse indictment.
In four weeks’ time Australia will return to Brisbane to face South Africa. Unless they find another stratosphere of performance they can expect humiliation. Like Ireland they were without a substantial majority of their pack and a few of their most influential men, but injuries are a fact of international life and the back-up to the first XV is woefully weak.
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Amid this unimaginative dross, Cooper radiated class. When he slips into gear it is as if a defensive gate has been left open and a different creature altogether finds his way on to the field. Ireland scrapped their way to a 15-11 lead with the interval fast approaching before the Queensland man squeezed between Ireland’s two opensides before jagging past Rob Kearney for the one sublime moment of the match. The only other try was an earlier intercept by Luke Burgess.
After the break, Cooper was Australia’s lone catalyst, identifying lumbering forwards to scoot past and offloading with his exquisite touch. His inside pass is so late that opponents cannot prevent it for fear of allowing him to sprint into the hole they would leave. The beauty of his pass is the manner in which it isolates tight forwards who have frazzled themselves in the game’s dark places and lack the energy to spend on that one more cover tackle.
Cooper was not perfect but he was so far above the rest of the rugby mortals as to deserve our humble praise. The only bright spark in a troubling 80 minutes in which international rugby stands in the dock; there was a time when Tests were played as if there was no tomorrow. The imperative of the World Cup has altered the game to the extent where halfway through a match the mind turns to the next international, the next stage towards the World Cup.
For Ireland, Jonny Sexton’s poise marked him down as the winner in his battle with Ronan O’Gara for the Irish No 10 shirt. He and Paddy Wallace worked some clever half-openings without their side ever appearing likely to score a try.
Ireland tried but were so jaded; maybe the result of a long European season, and maybe there was something more troubling still. The magic has even temporarily deserted Brian O’Driscoll.
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That summed up Ireland; gutsy but average at best. The Wallabies should have won by a greater margin but failed to shape the second half. Only the extra width Cooper provided caused any serious opportunities. Yet as Cooper rises, Matt Giteau’s influence fades, as if international rugby has room for only so much magic. This is the greatest worry of all.
Star man: Quade Cooper (Australia)
Scorers: Australia: Tries: Burgess 18, Cooper 40 Pen: Cooper (2), Giteau (2) Ireland: Pens: Sexton (5)
Referee: Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)
Attendance: 45,498
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Australia: J O’Connor (Western Force); D Mitchell (NSW Waratahs), R Horne (NSW Waratahs, K Beale 40 min, NSW Waratahs), M Giteau (ACT Brumbies), A Ashley-Cooper (ACT Brumbies); Q Cooper (Queensland Reds), L Burgess (NSW Waratahs); B Daley (Queensland Reds, J Skipper 54min, Queensland Reds), S Faingaa (Queensland Reds), S Ma’afu (ACT Brumbies), D Mumm (NSW Waratahs), N Sharpe (Western Force), R Elsom (capt, ACT Brumbies), D Pocock (Western Force), R Brown (Western Force)
Ireland: R Kearney (Leinster, G Murphy 53min, Leicester); T Bowe (Ospreys), B O’Driscoll (capt, Leinster), P Wallace (Ulster), A Trimble (Ulster); J Sexton (Leinster), T O’Leary (Munster); C Healy (Leinster), S Cronin (Connacht, D Varley 70min, Munster), T Buckley (Munster, T Court 40min, Ulster), D O’Callaghan (Munster), M O’Driscoll (Munster, D Tuohy 71min, Ulster), N Ronan (Munster), S Jennings (Leinster), C Henry (Ulster, R Ruddock 68min, Leinster)