Ireland likely to slow ruck ball to counter Wallabies main threats

The one thing Ireland consistently fear from the Wallabies is the speed at which they can move ruck ball.

Ireland's Bundee Aki at the captain's run training session at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane yesterday. Picture: AFP

The one thing Ireland consistently fear from the Wallabies is the speed at which they can move ruck ball, which explains why they are marshalling all their forces to ensure everything the Australians do in tonight’s Test at Suncorp Stadium happens at pedestrian pace.

It all flows from ruck speed, Peter O’Mahony explained yesterday and if Ireland want to shut down the Australian back three of Israel Folau, Dane Haylett-Petty and Marika Koroibete, then the job starts at the set pieces. It’s basically Rugby 101 but to listen to the Irish captain it’s clear that Ireland have risen to second place on the world rankings, their highest rating ever, on a profound understanding of the basics.

O’Mahony was asked if Ireland intended to curtail the lethal Australian backline by curtailing their halves, Will Genia and Bernard Foley, but it quickly became evident the visitors are thinking big picture.

“It starts with their set pieces, which have been very good for them, their scrum and lineout,” O’Mahony. said

Next, the breakdown.

“You have to stop their breakdown speed. If you’re on the back end of it, it’s very hard to stop when they do get very quick ball. Obviously, that’s what they’re looking for with the width of their game. Certainly it’s an area we’re going to have to try to contain and stop their strike players.”

As a flanker himself, O’Mahony has a professional respect for his Wallabies counterparts, Michael Hooper and David Pocock, but clearly it goes way beyond that.

“Pocock, Hooper, they’re one of the best if not the best backrow in the world. That in itself is incredibly challenging for us,” he said.

What in particular, he was asked?

“Obviously their breakdown threat but it’s their ability to carry the ball, their general rugby ability is probably second to no other backrow in the world, their passing skills. They’re two complete rugby players. Michael Hooper is only 26, and he’s got 80-odd caps and Pocock has even more again.”

It’s a trap for young players. ­Pocock is 30 and started playing Test football in 2008, four years ahead of Hooper, but Hooper is turning into the George Smith of his generation, Mr Indestructible, while Pocock has had long periods out of the game, intentionally and by accident.

Still, O’Mahony’s constant reference to their breakdown threat suggests Ireland have done an immense amount of work aimed at limiting their effectiveness. Just in case any of his audience had been sleeping through any of Ireland’s press conferences while in Australia, O’Mahony also was quick to seize on the physicality that Australia showed when they beat the All Blacks at this same venue, Suncorp Stadium, late last year.

“I don’t think anyone has been talking about it but they are one of the most physical teams in the world. And that is the reason why they are one of the top teams in the world,” he said.

While Ireland have won three of their past four meetings with the Wallabies and are on a 12-match winning streak against all opposition — though not the All Blacks — they have gone 10 Tests in succession without a win on Australian soil, dating back to 1979. If they are to break that run, however, it could all turn on the performance of Joey Carbery. If Ireland have done their homework on “Pooper”, Australia are certain to have analysed the Leinster — soon to be Munster — five-eighth with similar gusto.

While the Wallabies might fancy their chances of unsettling Carbery, they should realise that in the 10 Tests he has played for ­Ireland, he has never lost.

O’Mahony, however, came to the rescue.

“He’s an incredible footballer,” he said of Carbery. “He’s really grown into his leadership role over the last two years. I think he’s grown all the time and it’s a huge opportunity for him tomorrow.”

It’s a huge opportunity, indeed, for the six players who have benefited from coach Joe Schmidt’s decision to give his Leinster mainstays a rest, or at least a spell on the reserves bench.

“These are the opportunities you can’t let pass you by,” the Irish skipper said.