Wallabies v Ireland: Michael Hooper wary of Irish tackle tactic

The Wallabies are on high alert for the Irish ability to turn defence into attack.

Wallabies captain Michael Hooper at brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium. Picture: Getty Images

The Wallabies are on high alert in tonight’s Test at Suncorp Stadium for Ireland to reprise a tactic that derailed Australia’s 2011 World Cup campaign in New Zealand and brought them ­unstuck the last time they visited Lansdowne Road.

The Australians were taken completely by surprise at Eden Park in September 2011 when ­Ireland targeted their upright ball carries. Initially, the Wallabies thought they were making easy metres, driving the maul forward until it dawned on them that the Irish defenders — Sean O’Brien and Paul O’Connell always among the ringleaders in holding them up off the ground — were exchanging a minor territory loss for a scrum feed.

With no David Pocock there to take charge of the breakdowns, as he would do in the quarter-finals against South Africa a few weeks later, Australia tumbled to a 15-6 defeat. That, in turn, caused them to “jump tracks” in the World Cup draw. Instead of following the seeded route to playing the All Blacks in the final, a team they had beaten only recently in Brisbane, they ran full bore into them in the semi-final and were eliminated, one try to nil.

The Australians were again caught short when they visited Dublin on the spring tour of 2016. “When we play them over there, they hold players up and they’re good at it,” Wallabies captain ­Michael Hooper said yesterday. “I think they got more than three, perhaps half a dozen (turnovers) when we played them up there, building that wall around people and holding them up.”

Since then, the Wallabies have concentrated on body height and evasion techniques but in the thick of battle, these are not ­always front-of-mind. Certainly the direct, high-stepping Australian ball-carriers such as No 8 Caleb Timu and outside centre Samu Kerevi will be targeted by Ireland.

This goes to the very core of the problems that Ireland pose. They are without peer at forcing sides to go away from what they do best or, worse, forcing them to do what they do best but in risky, exposed situations. If any of the Wallabies come off Suncorp Stadium tonight not worn out mentally as well as physically, he won’t fully have done his job. Ireland challenge you in ways you’ve never ­experienced before.

“The Ireland team is really good at building pressure,” said Hooper. “When you do give them an early lead, it’s not impossible to track them down but it’s hard ­because they are able to keep you playing in your own areas. You’ve got to run the ball and chase the game and that opens you up to more risk.

“We’ve got a great ability to run it from everywhere but we’ve got to do it in smart ways.”

When asked about their tactic of holding up Australian players to earn a scrum feed, Irish skipper Peter O’Mahony gave a very ­revealing reply.

“Every time we come up against Australia, they’ve gotten better,” he said. “Obviously the last time they played here (at Suncorp), they beat the All Blacks. The physicality they showed that day was second to no team in the world.”

In other words, he comes straight from the Brian O’Driscoll school of captaincy, never quite answering the question. A neat bit of deflection, a gentle inflation of egos and the Australian question is left hanging. It’s much the same way as the Irish play their rugby.

This all sounds terribly cerebral for a simple game of footy and Wallabies boss Michael Cheika, who has as good an understanding of the Irish mentality as any Australian after spending six seasons as Leinster coach, is working so hard to get his players thinking for themselves. Rather than taking it on himself to order the plays that he wants, he has presented the Wallabies with a menu.

“The coaches don’t want to just say ‘This is how we are going to play’,” said Hooper. “They want players to buy in so they are sitting down the game managers, the line-out callers and saying: ‘This is what we can do. What do you like in this menu? Call it’.”

Much has been made of Ireland’s six changes — only one of them forced — to the side that clinched the Six Nations title in February.

Yet the Australian team has been through even more fundamental change.

Each new Test season begins afresh. The three debutants, hooker Brandon Paenga-Amosa, No 8 Timu and reserve backrower Pete Samu are all starting from scratch, on a six-day preparation.

It’s going to be rough and ready.