“Your pride does get dented, and we knew we had to man up, physically, today.”
Tadhg Furlong played 25 minutes of the First Test and delivered some pop off the bench but even he was left chastened by that defeat. Ireland’s scrum was rumbled, late in that game, to give Australia a handy chance to hit the front. They never looked back.
Dropped back into the starting XV, Furlong and Cian Healy were not the only men with points to prove. Healy did well enough but was the culprit in Australia being awarded a penalty try. Furlong was pure class throughout and looked excellent in his 71-minute shift.
While we would have awarded Peter O’Mahony man-of-the-match, we have no complaints with local broadcaster Channel 10 giving the accolade to Furlong. 12 carries for 38 metres, a lovely line break and a thundering try, as well as fine set-piece and breakdown work. You can’t go wrong.
Irish fans and rugby writers have long since extolled the virtues of ‘the humble Wexford farmer’ but today was the turn of the Aussies to rave about the immense tighthead. Over on Rugby.com.au, Beth Newman wrote:
‘Ireland looked like a different side with Johnny Sexton at the helm from the get go, but it was the return of Tadhg Furlong that was a complete game changer for them.
‘Furlong was named man of the match, and was a brute in attack and defence. The tighthead finished with 38 metres from 12 carries, and a dominant scrummaging performance. It was grunt that helped the Wallabies over the line in Brisbane, and it was Furlong that truly put a stamp on the game in Melbourne.’
FOX Sports commentators gushed about Furlong’s carrying game and labelled him a “wrecking ball”.
As the prop bulled over for his try, after 54 minutes, they declared, “And now it’s Furlong! They won’t stop him!”
The Aussies were not the only ones praising the Irish star. Joe Schmidt commented:
“It must have been that spectacular dive to reach and get that try, I didn’t realise his arms were that long. He obviously wasn’t reaching into his pocket!
“But I thought he did incredibly well to reach out and score that try… He’s really deserving of that man-of-the-match award, there’s a few other guys like Pete [O’Mahony] beside me, Pete’s three turnovers were crucial and he’d a couple of really good ball carries, good lineout pressure that he provided.”
The Campile native’s performance was even covered on the BBC but Mike Bushell’s ‘TAJ’ pronunciation of Furlong’s first name was all over the shop…
It seems @BBCSport have given @tadhgfurlong a new name😧😡 pic.twitter.com/Ue37ZjwnE1
— Martin King (@martinkingtv3) June 16, 2018
Martin King wasn’t having that!
And the social media reaction was pretty effusive too, starting with FOX commentator Greg Clark:
Tadhg Furlong take a bow. The Irish prop had the most run metres for Ireland and equal most runs. Both teams had injuries .. expect changes for both teams in what will be a cracker at a sold out @AllianzStadium next Sat. @FOXRugbyLive
— Greg Clark (@greg_clarkie) June 16, 2018
Tadgh Furlong, after a 25 yard line break, just tried to throw a 20 yard spin pass to his winger. Because he is Tadhg Furlong.
Somewhere John Hayes frowns, sternly.#FrontRowUnion
— Andy McGeady (@andymcgeady) June 16, 2018
Tadhg Furlong the finest quality pure Wexford Beouf #AUSIRE
— Stephen King (@stephenking121) June 16, 2018
U ain't stopping the "jukebox" @tadhgfurlong that close one on one
— jamie heaslip (@jamieheaslip) June 16, 2018
Go the Jukebox!
