Australia the perfect test of squad depth, says Jamie Heaslip

Ireland may be on the rise but Jamie Heaslip has warned his side face another massive challenge when Australia come to the Aviva Stadium this Saturday.

Joe Schmidt’s team moved up to fourth in the World rankings yesterday, despite losing 21-9 to table-toppers New Zealand in that bruising encounter, ousting South Africa from the top four after the Springboks’ recent misery hit new lows in Florence last Saturday with their first defeat to Italy.

The latest rankings rejig leaves Ireland going into their final Test of 2016 against the third-placed Wallabies looking for another big win to complete a productive November international window on a high having started the month by claiming a first win over the All Blacks.