Wallabies ready for onslaught
Australia coach Eddie Jones remained in Adelaide on Sunday to watch Ireland's 16-15 win over Argentina and believes what he saw there will be vastly different to what Ireland will serve up to the Wallabies at the Telstra Dome this weekend.
Ireland will no longer be inhibited or restrict their options. Instead, Jones believes Ireland will be far more expansive in a bid to repeat the Australian agony of 12 months ago, when they defeated the Wallabies 18-9 at Lansdowne Road.
"It was interesting the comments [Ireland captain] Keith Wood made after the game, saying they can now take off the shackles," Jones said yesterday.
"Their match against Argentina was like a grand final. It obviously was, because you were either in the quarter-finals or you weren't.
"Now they're in the quarter-finals, so on Saturday you will see an Ireland side without the shackles. They will probably be a lot more expressive and a lot more free than they were last night because they have that quarter-final berth in their back pocket."
Jones said that, in contrast, Australia had been attempting to push the limits from day one of the tournament.
"We haven't had the shackles on during this tournament. We've been 100% all go. We're playing each game as though it's our last game," Jones said.
What is making the Wallabies coach extra cautious is that Ireland's key attacking player, O'Driscoll, has been quiet in the early stages of the World Cup. An obvious standout during the 2001 Irish and British Lions tour of Australia, O'Driscoll is possibly the most authoritative midfielder in world rugby.
However, he has not had too many chances to show off the mix of speed and timing that saw him, at only 23, break the Irish try-scoring record set by Brendan Mullins when he scored his 19th against Italy earlier this year.
Jones admitted O'Driscoll had "certainly been below his best" so far in this tournament.
"But you know with a guy like him he is probably one ball touch away from his best. He's a great athlete and will respond to the fast surface at Telstra Dome."
The Wallabies selectors will today finalise their line-up against Ireland, with the starting 15 expected to revert to the team that ran onto Telstra Stadium for the opening match of the tournament against Argentina.
David Giffin has a strong chance of regaining his second-row position in the starting XV after proving his fitness against Namibia at the weekend. Jones is already preparing for the tension of telling key players that they will miss Australia's most important World Cup game so far.
"You want this situation," the coach said. "You want to have disappointed players you want to leave good players out of the squad.
"Rugby is not one of those games where you have batting and bowling averages to look at. In the end, it is finding balance, personality mix and blends of skills. It's looking at the opposition and then picking your best team.
"The good thing about this week's selection is that about 50% are going to think it is the right selection; outside our team 50% are going to think it is wrong.
"In our squad, we're going to have 15 happy blokes, seven blokes who'll smile when I'm around but will be unhappy when I'm not around, and eight blokes who are just going to be dirty all the time.
"That's what we want."
Meanwhile rehabilitation in the swimming pool rather than a training stint was the preferred choice yesterday as Ireland's World Cup squad moved camp to Melbourne.
The Irish management elected not to go through with training in respect of the exacting physical nature of Sunday's bruising clash with Argentina.
The legacy was best served, it was felt, with a pool session under the guidance of fitness director Mike McGurn.
As Anthony Foley was declared ready to resume training with the full squad, fellow back row forward Victor Costello ached with a thigh bump sustained against the robust Argentineans, while centre Kevin Maggs, limped off with an ankle strain.
It is anticipated that both will be available when the team to play Australia on Saturday next is announced on Thursday lunchtime.
It was originally pencilled in that the Irish team would be announced today but coach Eddie O'Sullivan has decided "to give ourselves a breather and delay selection until Thursday".
Meantime, injured wing forward Alan Quinlan will remain with the squad for the rest of the week, as medical opinion is that it would be uncomfortable for him to return at the moment. Shadow squad replacement David Wallace is due to join up with the squad later this evening.
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