A great day, but we can’t live with this memory forever

Ireland 18 Australia 9

He should know all about defeat in Dublin because he was a member of the Australian squad beaten at Lansdowne Road back in 1968, the last time Ireland conquered the Wallabies on home soil.

If this was a warm-up for the World Cup clash next year it proved one thing - Ireland, knocking on the door and biting at the heels of the southern hemisphere giants for the last 24 months, have finally secured a bit of status. More than anything, though, they have proved something to themselves.

But, having enjoyed a prolonged lap of honour - with the dejected world champion Wallabies deep in the bowels of the Lansdowne Road West stand - the Irish players and management insisted it was only the first step.

Ireland have been knocking at the door for a long time but the only real scalp they can claim is England. Nothing wrong with that, but Australia, New Zealand and South Africa have often been in the sights recently and never finished off.

Injured captain Keith Wood has often claimed that Ireland are the nearly men of international rugby, what a pity then that he was not there to make the most of this very special occasion.

Ireland proved something else - that they can survive and prosper in Wood’s absence. His replacement, Shane Byrne, had a stormer.

The Wallabies can talk till the cows come home about the “soft” day in Dublin, not cold, but wet and a bit windy. Facts are that Ireland adapted better to the conditions, but there wasn’t a man in green who would not have exchanged the conditions for something better.

Ronan O’Gara, the official Man of the Match, put it bluntly: “Everything worked for us on the day but I reckon we would have won as well if the weather was fine and the temperature much higher. We cannot blame or cannot claim anything because of the weather.”

O’Gara had a huge influence on this game. There was a quirky ten minute period early in the second-half but he banished the ghosts of Australia with the Lions last year by clearly winning his battle with Stephen Larkham.

It’s not often that Larkham is substituted, at least not tactically, but Elton Flatley entered the fray with eight minutes left. It seemed Wallaby coach Eddie Jones was throwing in the towel.

As O’Gara kicked six penalties to three for Matt Burke, Peter Stringer enjoyed an equally prosperous afternoon by varying his game brilliantly. The conditions should not have allowed it but his distribution was inch-perfect and his judgement in all other matters magnificent.

George Gregan is used to having such an influential role, but on Saturday, without doing anything wrong, he wasn’t at the races.

Ireland, as conceded by former Australian centre Tim Horan, were the better side. “We came close to scoring a try early in the second-half and that could have settled the team. There are no complaints, however, because the better side won on the day.

“Ireland were positive going forward and very focused in defence. There were very few gaps out there for Australia to exploit.”

To those who have studied his progress in the last couple of years, it came as no surprise that Shane Horgan had a big game. He came closest to scoring an Irish try and became a hero when he got a fingernail to deny Stirling Mortlock a score that could well have turned the match.

The Irish midfield was rock solid and the defence almost demonic. Denis Hickie almost knocked himself out trying to tackle the Australian version of Jonah Lomu - Wendall Sailor - while reserve John Kelly endeared himself to everyone with three successive tackles almost in the one movement. Girvan Dempsey, often the butt of unfair criticism, was rock-solid all through, especially under the high ball.

For all that, it was up front that this battle of attrition was won. Ireland won their lineouts, challenged vigorously on Australia’s throws, scrummaged strongly and rucked and mauled with great efficiency.

When Owen Finegan left the field with a dislocated shoulder midway through the first half, Australia lost much of their strike force. Justin Harrison may well be the man who denied the Lions a series victory last season but he doesn’t have the physical presence of Finegan. Ireland prospered as a result.

Keith Gleeson enjoyed this special moment against a country he captained at under-21 level. “Yes, it was pretty nice. It was, like, a message but we can not dwell on that now. We have got to move on, put this game behind us and prepare for the games with Fiji and Argentina. We will enjoy the night but we can’t live with this memory for ever. If you believe that, you’ll believe anything!”

But Gleeson was just one member of a superbly drilled and entirely focused Irish pack in which Reggie Corrigan was magnificent. We saw moments of sheer endurance and magic from Gary Longwell, Malcolm O’Kelly, Anthony Foley, Shane Byrne, Victor Costello and the “Bull” Hayes.

Yes, this was a great day for Ireland, a day when Australia realised that they might have a fight on their hands in October of next year. They said, before the game, through coach Eddie Jones, that they would take nothing for granted. But Ireland were without question much the better side. The scalp has been taken and the monkey is off the back.

Who knows what the future holds?

IRELAND: G. Dempsey (Terenure), S. Horgan (Lansdowne), B. O’Driscoll (Blackrock), K. Maggs (Bath), D. Hickie (St. Mary’s), R. O’Gara (Cork Constitution), P. Stringer (Shannon), R. Corrigan (Greystones), S. Byrne (Blackrock), J. Hayes (Shannon), G. Longwell (Ballymena), M. O’Kelly (St. Mary’s), V Costello (Blackrock), A. Foley (Shannon), K. Gleeson (St. Mary’s).

Replacements: J. Kelly (Cork Constitution) for Hickie (40, injured), A. Quinlan (Shannon), L. Cullen (Blackrock) for Costello and Longwell (both 70), F. Sheahan (Cork Constitution) for Byrne (82). Temporary, Sheahan for Byrne (28 36).

AUSTRALIA: M. Burke (New South Wales), W. Sailor (Queensland), s. Mortlock (ACT), D. Herbert (Queensland), S. Staniforth (New South Wales), S. Larkham (ACT), G. Gregan (ACT), N. Stiles (Queensland), A. Freier (New South Wales), P. Noriega (New South Wales), O. Finegan (ACT), D. Giffin (ACT), M. Cockbain (Queensland), T. Kefu (Queensland), G. Smith (ACT). Replacements. J. Harrison (ACT) for Finegan (17, injured), B. Darwin (ACT) for Stiles (60), D. Croft (Queensland) for Smith, E. Flatley (Queensland) for Larkham (both 75), B. Cannon (New South Wales) for Freier (80).

Referee: S. Walsh (New Zealand).