A strange way to end a surreal season

WHAT A tumultuous 12 months for Irish rugby: the provinces excelling and the national team winning just seven matches from 14.

It’s against this surreal background that Ireland hope this morning (11am kick off Irish time) for a first test win on southern hemisphere soil since an Ollie Campbell-inspired Irish side defeated Australia in two Tests in 1979.

The team’s build-up has been far from ideal this week. For the past two days, they’ve had to prepare on a council ground, facilities Michael Bradley described yesterday as “adequate”. But players said the ground was “poor” and “like concrete” though the temporary coach explained the field hasn’t been fed enough water because of water shortages and a drought in the area in the last four years. On top of that, the team were unable to schedule a run-out inside the oval shaped Telstra Dome because it was been lined and prepared for an AFL game between Essendon and West Coast, played last night.