O’Connor urges Ireland to back up win over Boks

It was Matt O’Connor who suggested some weeks ago Ireland needed to beat one of the two southern hemisphere sides this month if they were to be considered a serious World Cup contender in 12 months’ time.

That happened when Joe Schmidt’s side accounted for a heavily-tipped South African side that subsequently went on to beat England. Now O’Connor has challenged the Irish team to back that up against his native Australia.

“They pushed the All Blacks very hard (last year) and they got a well-deserved win, under a lot of pressure, against South Africa. The consistency will be important. The home ground advantage is huge in Dublin and they need to cash in on that this weekend,” the Leinster boss explained.