“We’re going to be brutal in defence and we’re going to be brutal in attack.”
Brutal. Brutalising the Irish. That was the Australian game-plan and it worked a treat.
Nathan Grey’s paw-prints were all over the Wallabies victory over Ireland in an insanely physical Test match, in Brisbane. We fully expected David Pocock, Michael Hooper and Izack Rodda to front up but what we got, instead, was all 15 Australian starters laying into the tourists with every fibre of their being.
Dane Haylett-Petty was hounding men, Samu Kerevi was crunching rib cages, Marika Koroibete sunk a big hit on Conor Murray and Adam Coleman [too wound up, at times] thundered Jacob Stockdale over the touchline after he made a clean aerial take.
Georgina Robinson of Sydney Morning Herald was a fascinated onlooker and she joined The Hard Yards to happily pore over her country’s win and [from 16:00 below] pin-point the moment she felt Australia had what it takes to snap Ireland’s victory streak at 12.
Host Andy McGeady described the first 15 minutes of the Brisbane Test as “violent” and Ireland captain Peter O’Mahony conceded that opening spell was the most physical and punishing he had experienced in all his time in professional rugby.
It was a tackle from a man more known for his silky attacking skills that told Robinson the Wallabies were ON. She commented:
“I’ll tell you why it was like a way I had never seen Australia before. It was Kurtley Beale’s tackle on Conor Murray early in the game.
“This is a guy who is known for foot-work, ceativity and heads-up rugby. He is a solid defender but he is not generally known for crunching tackles like the one that he made on Murray.
“That was when I was like, ‘Ah, these guys have all drank the Kool-Aid and it’s really happening’.”
Beale’s leveller on Murray as he attempted a wrap-around, and received a pass back from Jordi Murphy, definitely sent a message to his teammates, Ireland and the home crowd that the Wallabies were dialled in.
Credit: FOX/Rugby Pass“Australians really love that,” Robinson added.
“They love seeing a team like that. We’re used to running rugby and really attacking play… what the fans really want to see is a team that is prepared to muscle up and put on some big, but legal, hits.”
Beale the enforcer. It was one of five walloping hits that Murray and Joey Carbery had to eat in that opening, 15-minute spell.
Can the Aussies repeat the dose again in Melbourne? If they can carry on with this level of intensity and thunder, there will be a lot of sore Irish bodies come June 23, at tour’s end.
