Dec 01,2024
Ireland capped off their Autumn Nations Series with a late comeback win over Australia, as Gus McCarthy's try in the final eight minutes saw them edge Joe Schmidt's side.
On a day when Andy Farrell's side had to dig deep, here's how we rated them...
Hugo Keenan – 7
The full-back had a miscommunication with Robbie Henshaw in the build-up to the Australia try, but made up for it with the ball in hand. Ireland's attack got him involved a lot, and he made 72 metres off 13 carries. Could have scored an early try, but spilled forward after a great covering tackle.
Mack Hansen – 6
Always looked to get involved, and while it was a very busy performance from the wing, he was unable to create much, in large parts down to a well-organised Australian defence.
Robbie Henshaw – 7
Gave Ireland some good gainline success, and his 14 carries were more than any other player in green. Will be frustrated with the miscommunication with Keenan under a high ball which led to the Australia try.
Bundee Aki – 7
Had a quiet afternoon by his normal standards in attack, but one beautiful pass to Lowe in the opening half almost created a try. Provided some important tackles – seven in total – on the other side of the ball, while he forced a turnover at a breakdown in the second half.
James Lowe – 6
Ireland’s handling was an issue this afternoon, and Lowe had a frustrating afternoon in that regard, with four turnovers conceded. Connected beautifully with Prendergast on a crossfield kick early in the second half, but a knock-on soon ended the attack.
Sam Prendergast (below) – 8
Had a lot of pressure on his shoulders, and put in an excellent performance. His kicking was pinpoint, and his crossfield effort to Lowe in the second half was perfectly weighted. Made a brilliant tackle on Max Jorgensen in the corner, which unfortunately counted for little when the Wallabies scored in the far corner. Brilliant distribution almost set up Keenan to score that early try.
Jamison Gibson-Park – 6
Was very well marshalled by Australia, and wasn’t able to threaten the fringes of rucks as much as he would be used to. Distribution was largely sound, and had a nice box-kick into space in the opening half, but just couldn’t put his regular amount of magic dust on the game.
Andrew Porter – 7
Had to get through a lot of dirty work against a hardworking opposition, and contributed seven tackles to the cause. Scrum was rock-solid throughout.
Rónan Kelleher – 6
Very busy defensively, with 12 tackles being high up on Ireland’s chart, but in attack he didn't see a lot of ball, and had a frustrating miscommunication with James Lowe out on the left wing in the opening half. Lineouts are still too inconsistent.
Finlay Bealham – 5
It was a frustrating day for Bealham, who started the day with two knock-ons, and that was followed with two penalties. On the positive side, the Connacht man did win his side a scrum penalty late in the first half.
Joe McCarthy (above) – 6
Possibly lucky to avoid a card early in the game for a high tackle on Rob Valetini, and got his timing wrong with Caelan Doris to allow Harry Wilson make a big break up the middle in the first half, which thankfully didn’t come to anything. Couldn't impose himself with the ball, with minimal gains from eight carries.
James Ryan – 7
Didn’t see much ball, but put in a very big defensive shift, making 13 tackles – the second highest for Ireland – in just 53 minutes.
Tadhg Beirne – 7
Some good and some bad, but ultimately Beirne came up with important moments. The frustrating element will be ball protection – the flanker lost the ball twice on the ground after tackles, but he also came up with two very important turnovers. On the defensive side, was joint second for Ireland with 13 tackles.
Josh van der Flier (above) – 8
Back to his very best this November, and has been the standout performer across these four games. Carrying the ball with real punch at the moment and now has four tries in his last five games across Leinster and Ireland. Also chipped in with 12 tackles.
Caelan Doris – 8
Relentless energy. The Ireland captain was a force on both sides of the ball, making a team-high 15 tackles, and ranking third-highest for carries. His best carry of the lot got Ireland right up to the line before Van der Flier scored.
Replacements:
Gus McCarthy – 7
What a month for the 21-year-old. Came on with just under 15 minutes to play, and saw a huge amount of ball in that time, capping it off with another try.
Cian Healy (below) – 6
Played 13 minutes and got to work around the ruck, but nobody will dwell on his performance after his achievement today, reaching 134 caps, and becoming Ireland’s record appearance-holder.
Tom O’Toole - 6
Gave away a penalty shortly after coming on, but contributed some important tackles, while the scrum held its own.
Iain Henderson – 7
The Ulster veteran had been under pressure for his place, but put in a very busy 27 minutes, with three carries and six tackles, the last of which forced a knock-on to ice the game.
Peter O’Mahony - 7
Similar to Henderson, O’Mahony looked determined to make an impact, contributing six tackles and carries. But it was his passing that kept Ireland’s phases going, the flanker always looked to keep attacks alive.
Craig Casey – 7
It’s been a very good week for the Munster man, who followed an impressive start against Fiji with a big impact off the bench. Brought huge energy to Ireland when he came on with 15 minutes left, and has a lovely chip through to Mack Hansen which on another day could have been a try.
Jack Crowley (above) – 8
Only on for 15 minutes, but he packed a lot into it. Combined brilliantly with Casey on a couple of occasions, and had a good carry and an offload within seconds of coming on. Took a bold call to go for the corner instead of points with a penalty, while his grubber for the corner couldn’t have been weighted better, forcing Tom Wright to carry into touch, and that provided the lineout for the winning try, which he also converted.
Garry Ringrose – 6
Came on with 25 minutes to play, but had a quiet enough outing. Got onto the ball a couple of times and had one good carry, and wasn’t called into action on defence.
