Wallabies hit ground running to impress against Ireland

David Pocock of the Wallabies dives on the ball during the First Test between Australia and Ireland at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane on Saturday.

World Rugby comes in for some scathing and, frankly well-deserved criticism from time to time, but credit where it is due. Whoever was responsible for reviving the concept of the three-match Test series in June has saved one of the great traditions of the game.

Australia-Ireland, All Blacks-France, Springboks-England … each fascinating contests in their own right yet how much more revealing it was that the Tests played on Saturday weren’t simply one-offs.

In each case, the northern hemisphere sides have some regrouping to do, but one does fear for France — New Zealand can’t possibly be that rusty again.

In the case of Ireland and England, there is everything still to play for with two Tests remaining.

Leaving Eddie Jones to wallow in the inevitable catastrophe that those who knew him never doubted would one day befall him and England, let’s concentrate on how the Australia-Ireland series will proceed from here. But first a quick retrospective: Ireland were great on Saturday night, Australia just a little better, but as Irish coach Joe Schmidt suggested, the margins were “skinny”.

It has been many a year since the Wallabies played so well at the start of their season and for that a few things need to be credited. In recent years, the build-up to June has featured the Wallabies doing hill sprints as coach Michael Cheika desperately attempted to make up the ground that was lost by the Super Rugby franchises on the players’ fitness. It was a vicious circle, with the players so leg-weary from the belated fitness spurt that they simply could not perform against northern hemisphere teams coming here relatively tired but assuredly match-fit.

That didn’t happen for the opening Test against Ireland. The Wallabies were able to train up-tempo last week because their Super Rugby coaches had already done the hard yards and this in turn provided the form and the fitness that they took into the contest. The provincial contests against New Zealand sides this season would suggest that the Kiwis are still marginally the fitter but the gap is definitely closing. It will be intriguing to see how the fitness factor plays out on the scoreboard in the Bledisloe Cup.

What else was different this year? Well, as Bill Clinton might have phrased it, “it’s David Pocock, stupid!” Well, of course it’s Pocock! How had we ever convinced ourselves that he was only one man, that the Wallabies could survive without him?

Tom Robertson (right) of the Wallabies celebrates after his team mate David Pocock of the Wallabies scored the winning try.

There may have been times during his leave of absence when Pocock’s mind wandered from rugby, when the only way he had of learning how the Wallabies were faring while on the farm in Zimbabwe was by checking for text messages.

But from the moment he pulled on that gold jersey again after an 18-month absence, he ­became anew one of the most ­influential players on the planet. And it all happened so seamlessly it was as though he had never been away.

Other changes?

Well, the Wallabies coaching staff, for starters. Not only had a new member joined in Simon Raiwalui, the forwards coach, but the attack coach Steve Larkham and defence coach Nathan Grey have both signed on as fulltimers. They weren’t the part-timers with ­primary allegiances to the Brumbies or the Tahs, as in years past. They had their heads totally in the Wallabies game and it showed.

It showed in the cross field kicking game the Australians used to unlock and unleash the aerial skills of Israel Folau and Dane Haylett-Petty; it showed in the defensive stats, which had the Australians making 183 tackles, 52 more than Ireland, while missing only 18. Knowing Grey, that would surely be 17 too many — he would generously allow the one miss — but what the Wallabies might have lacked in accuracy, they sure made up for it in pure physicality.

The Irish put on some big hits but for sheer “wince” factor, there were at least half a dozen Wallabies tackles that would have ­absolutely rocked the men in green: Conor Murray, twice — once by Marika Koroibete once by Kurtley Beale; Jacob Stockdale twice, once by Adam Coleman, once by Koroibete; Bundee Aki by Samu Kerevi; James Ryan, again by Coleman, though there was the slight concern that Ryan didn’t have the ball at the time, a minor inconvenience that cost Australia a Folau try.

Kurtley Beale (centre) of the Wallabies in action during the First Test between Australia and Ireland in Brisbane.

Still, it brought to mind all those long years when Brian O’Driscoll would go on and on about how clever the Wallabies were without saying a word about their physical prowess. Not so much now, one thinks.

“They are an unbelievably athletic and talented team,” Schmidt ventured. “The last time they played here they beat the All Blacks and that’s the level we’ve got to be able to compete and get the margins to fall our way, albeit they were pretty skinny today.”

So, how can Schmidt swing those margins back in Ireland’s favour?

It takes no great foresight to suggest that he will recall to the starting side the Leinster players he rested. Five-eighth Johnny Sexton, hooker Sean Cronin and props Cian Healy and Tadhg ­Furlong would surely be in most people’s strongest Irish XV and their return to the run-on team in Melbourne next Saturday would surely bolster the tourists. So too centre Garry Ringrose and ­flanker Dan Leavy, who weren’t even in the match-day 23.

But it’s not a complete fix. Healy and Furlong both were ­injected into the game in the 45th minute, when Ireland trailed by two points, 8-6. Sexton and ­Cronin joined at the 55th minute, while Irish fans were celebrating the Joey Carbery kick that put their side ahead, 9-8. So, Ireland’s two leading props were in place for 35 minutes, their star five-eighth and best available hooker for 25 minutes and in that time the Wallabies — who emptied their own bench — took the game away from them.

That’s not to say the game would not have played out differently had they been there from the start but Ireland had their best front-row in place when Taniela Tupou, Tolu Latu and Tom Robertson — Wallabies reserves, every one of them — destroyed their scrum in the 67th minute.

At a time when Australian rugby has been battered pretty much by everyone, the Wallabies and Ireland showed everything that was good about the game in a high-energy, highly-skilled match. The sense of anticipation for the Melbourne and Sydney Tests is now almost palpable.

As for Raelene Castle, watching her first Test as Rugby Australia chief executive, there was also the added satisfaction of having visited the press box just before kick-off and precisely nominating the winning score. If she can keep making accurate, winning predictions like that, we just might let her stay!