Preview: Australia v Ireland
Super Saturday sees Australia and Ireland go head-to-head with more or less the same goal in mind – one to kick-start their season on a high, the other to end it in the same fashion.
Super Saturday sees Australia and Ireland go head-to-head with more or less the same goal in mind – one to kick-start their season on a high, the other to end it in the same fashion.
From Marseilles to Melbourne, Australia head into their first Test match since their shock quarter-final exit at the 2007 Rugby World Cup with five fresh faces in the mix, one of which is a coach.
The time has finally come for Robbie Deans , the most successful coach in Super Rugby history, to strut his stuff on the international circuit with a new team in a different country and under the rugby world's watchful eyes. No pressure then!
However, Deans is no stranger to Test rugby – he's been there done that as assistant to former New Zealand coach John Mitchell before he and the rest of the All Black management got the axe for their failings at the 2003 World Cup.
Coincidentally, it was against Australia in the semi-finals, the same team the Australian Rugby Union handed Deans the task his country of origin discarded him of – guiding the national side to the Webb Ellis Trophy in 2011.
That four-year journey starts now against Ireland and the Wallabies head into their first of fourteen Tests in 2008 not only with a change of coach and four new caps, but also on the back of a bare-bones preparation.
Having been in camp only since last Monday following the completion of the Super 14 tournament, Deans and company have had little time to get to know each other. Advantage Ireland? Hardly.
Fellow Southern Hemisphere rivals South Africa proved that under a new coach and with two weeks of prep time that a win is very possible with their 43-17 drubbing of Six Nations champs, Wales. And across the Tasman, New Zealand had a week less to get themselves organised yet still came up trumps against the same opposition Australia will face this weekend.
Of course last week's results can't determine what the outcome of this match will be, but the excuse of not having enough time to gel should at least cancel out one excuse should Australia lose.
Having not played on the international stage in over eight months, the Wallabies have to adapt to the physicality of Test rugby again and everything else that comes with it. All the training runs, video analysis and contact sessions can't prepare you for the rigours of a Test and the match-hardened Irish represent a massive challenge for Deans' new-look and largely underdone Wallabies.
The inadequacies of Australia's forwards were cruelly exposed during last year's World Cup quarter-final loss to England and the tough Irish pack will offer the perfect test of where they currently stand.
Fortunately Deans has an important ally in assistant coach Jim Williams, who, having just finished a lengthy stint as forwards coach with Munster, knows the Irish line-up well. As the forward pack contains six Munster players, Williams can provide an intimate dossier on each of the Wallabies' scrummaging opponents.
Another important part of the game that Deans' troops will have to adapt quickly to, is the shift from the Experimental Law Variations to the 'old' laws. Ireland will obviously use this to their advantage, because they're already in the groove and used to the timing. Even New Zealand had a hiccup or two in the switch last week when Dan Carter – used to an abundance of space in the Super 14 – had a clearance kick from a scrum charged down, but the deadball line saved a certain Ireland try.
The surviving Wallaby players that toured the UK in 2006 will also be mindful of Ireland's ambush of the Wallabies when the two teams last met at Lansdowne Road and will know their visitors are not to be underestimated.
On the other end of the scale, we have Ireland who have played six Tests this year that includes the Six Nations championship plus last week's 21-11 defeat in atrocious weather conditions to New Zealand.
Throw in the fact that these players are in the 53rd week of an unrelenting season and you may forgive them for playing the fatigue card. Advantage Australia? Not quite.
Fatigue was nowhere to be seen against the All Blacks on a chilly Wellington night, instead Ireland had an ace up their sleeve and put in a commendable performance that had the team locked at 11-points apiece with fifteen minutes remaining before a forearm incident swung the game New Zealand's way. Bow your head in shame Marcus Horan!
The scrum may have been under pressure and it was a pity the Munster-based pack's set pieces, normally so reliable, stuttered when the All Blacks put on the squeeze because this was a wonderful opportunity to end 103 years of hurt.
But under the circumstances, there was much to admire in Ireland's display. Captain Brian O'Driscoll had a tough week prior to the match and hadn't played since May 9, while Ireland's large Munster contingent had to hop on a plane and travel around the world days after the emotional high of the Heineken Cup and subsequent celebrations.
And to give as good an account of themselves against a side desperate to make a statement in their first outing since the World Cup dumping – much like what Australia will be out to accomplish – is a worthy achievement.
It was a performance based on gritty gumption, with a simple gameplan that frustrated the All Blacks for long periods. But whether the Irish can recover from last week's war of attrition is anyone's guess.
For you see, the biggest challenge is the mental one. It is the last lap of this slog of a season and, though they will deny it, holiday thoughts are bound to creep in.
Though if that can be channelled into one final performance before a well-deserved break it could work in Ireland's favour but, historically, that has proven difficult. Ireland have not won on Australian soil since 1979, a record the team under interim coach Michael Bradley will be eager to end.
One thing is for certain that Ireland will be most pleased about, is playing under a closed roof at the Telstra Dome. This means no wet ball, no slipping underfoot and no excuses for handling errors.
Instead, Ireland should have their line-out working again (Ireland lost six of their own throws last week) and the Aussie scrum is not New Zealand's. The back-line too have one last chance before heading home to show they don't rely too heavily on Ronan O'Gara's boot.
Obviously the same applies to Australia, who have never been shy of throwing the pigskin around. In saying that, perhaps Ireland would want to reconsider having the roof open after all…
In a nutshell, this Test match should not be one for the faint-hearted.
Players to watch:
For Australia: If the Aussie scavengers in George Smith and Rocky Elsom can secure quality ball for their backs it could be a difficult outing for the Irish, while number eight Wycliff Palu will want to tackle everything that moves in green. A man the Wallabies will miss is the