Fuelled by their frustrations, Ireland have a point to prove

It is difficult to imagine Ireland’s season being remembered as anything but an unheralded success after a Six Nations Triple Crown, Championship and Grand Slam was secured on the back a 12-Test winning run.

Yet a second successive defeat to the Wallabies in Australia today (11:05am Irish time) would, for head coach Joe Schmidt and his players represent something of an unravelling of that hard-earned legacy from the 2017-18 campaign.

For this touring party Down Under, already one down in a three-Test series after last Saturday’s 18-9 defeat in Brisbane brought that national record-breaking run to an end.