Sleepless nights ahead for Eddie

IN the aftermath of last week's defeat to New Zealand, Ireland's disappointment was tempered somewhat by the realisation that the All Blacks were a vastly superior force.

Unfortunately no such comfort exists in the wake of Saturday's defeat to Australia.

How Ireland contrived to lose this game, given the dominance they exerted throughout the first half, is an issue calculated to give Eddie O'Sullivan a few sleepless nights. Rarely have I seen an Australian side as tentative and lacking in confidence. Quite simply, they are the worst Wallaby side to visit these shores I can remember.

At half time, one sensed a painful realisation that the visitors were being left off the hook. By that stage Ireland had squandered at least 13 points and a three-point lead was a poor return for the dominance they enjoyed in the opening period.

Australia's front five was on the receiving end of an appalling hammering from England's juggernaut pack last weekend. Such was the damage that Eddie Jones was left with no choice but to introduce two rookie props who had never started an international. Having watched them on Saturday, one can understand why.

The general malaise also seemed to affect Australia's multi-talented back line. Ireland's defence was far superior than it appeared against New Zealand and overall Simon Easterby's side showed a variety to their game that promised much.

On one occasion early on, Ireland mauled the Australian forward pack with such ruthless efficiency that they looked mere novices. Amazingly, they never employed the tactic for the remainder of the game.

The one area where Australia were confident of dominance was in the battle at the breakdown. In recent internationals, Eddie Jones has selected both George Smith and Phil Waugh, two out and out open sides, to hoover up ball on the deck. With the obvious exception of Richie McCaw, these two are the best in the business.

Therefore it was a massive plus for Ireland that the back row was completely outplaying their more established counterparts.

In this respect, both Johnny O'Connor and Denis Leamy were outstanding. On numerous occasions, particularly in the opening half, Ireland turned over Australian possession with ease. In broken play Leamy continued where he left off against New Zealand and was outstanding with ball in hand. He has been the brightest spark to emerge over the last two weeks.

When Geordan Murphy failed to put Tommy Bowe in for a try on the stroke of half time, one sensed the worst. For a player as skilful as the Leicester man, his passing in the last two games has been disappointing.

The other key moment prior to the break was the loss of Ireland's most capped player Malcolm O'Kelly to a thunderous triple tackle by the Wallabies. That said, one couldn't envisage the manner in which Ireland's lineout encountered a total systems failure in the second half. At one stage Ireland lost four successive throws. Replacement Matt McCullough looked out of his depth at this level.

The key for Ireland after the resumption was to keep Australia scoreless for the opening 10 minutes. With the weight of history and seven successive defeats hanging over them, George Gregan's men would surely crack. The opposite happened. Scoring 10 points in the opening three minutes, the Wallabies took off. It was as if they took a collective confidence pill at the half-time break. Their early scoring spree left Ireland shell-shocked to such a degree that they never recovered.

While some of Ronan O'Gara's kicking in the first half was off the radar by his standards, it was still surprising to see him withdrawn in favour of David Humphreys so soon after the break. Even more amazingly, it was the only tactical substitution made by the Irish management throughout the game.

Sensing that confidence was visibly draining from the Irish team, the Wallabies upped the ante and played at a pace that Ireland found difficult to cope with. At this stage too many first-up tackles were being missed and Lote Tiquiri enjoyed the freedom of the park.

Full-back Chris Latham showed exactly why Alan Gaffney was so keen to bring him to Munster two years ago. His willingness to counter attack at every opportunity caused havoc. That said, the ease at which he waltzed through Ireland's defence to score in the 64th minute was criminal at this level and signalled the end of the game.

For the second week in a row, Ireland's core skills let them down. Basic handling errors and an inability to execute simple overlaps once again proved costly.

Having enjoyed some spectacular success in recent seasons, the Irish side is now in transition. Already seasoned campaigners like Reggie Corrigan, Anthony Foley and Girvan Dempsey would seem surplus to requirements. It was therefore surprising that some of the younger players on the bench were not given an opportunity for the last 20minutes. It is the only way to fast track their development. Playing them against Romania next Saturday won't have the same effect.

At Twickenham, New Zealand celebrated their appointment to host the 2011 World Cup by securing their most difficult victory on the road to their coveted grand slam. Surprisingly they looked nervous early on and were guilty of some uncharacteristic handling errors. They are human after all.

England, despite their most impressive performance since winning the World Cup two years ago, still lacks a cutting edge behind the scrum.

The midfield of Mike Tindall and Jamie Noon is too reliant on brawn and lacks a game breaker. Even their massive scrum was halted and sent into reverse on a few occasions.

This was a far better game than that on view in Lansdowne Road and the manner in which the All Blacks defended their line despite playing the last 24 minutes with 14 men was spectacular.

The other shining light was Daniel Carter. He constantly asked questions with ball in hand while his kicking and defence are also world class.

It is a tribute to England that they exerted so much pressure on New Zealand and stretched them so much. It certainly offers hope, however slim, to others with aspirations of lifting the William Webb Ellis trophy in two years' time.