Ireland appeared to have little left. An hour was nearing on the clock and Australia had just blazed in their third try in 20 minutes.
The Irish backline was as makeshift as you were ever likely to see and the forwards were starting to feel the strain. The Wallabies were far to good to go meekly into the Dublin night and their comeback was a blitz.
Salvo after salvo after salvo.
Ireland rode their luck at times and tackled like wild men at others. When Sefanaia Naivalu scorched up the right wing to score near the sticks, Bernard Foley’s simple conversion was about to make it 21-20.
From 17-0 ahead, Ireland were about to fall behind at a terrible time. “Again boys. We go again,” roared Michael Hooper as the rest of the Wallabies made their way back to their half.
Rory Best gathered his own men together for a few words.
Tadhg Furlong was never too far away from his captain at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday night.
Following the game, and Ireland’s 27-24 victory that was full of heart and sheer determination, Furlong gave us a taste of Best’s rallying call. He said:
“Rory pulled us in and said, Right, next job’. You have to focus on what you can do next. You can’t really wallow in self pity in there and start to panic. You have to get down to basics and that’s kick-off and everyone executing their roles.
“Rory was real calm, there was no panic in there.
“I suppose testament to the man on his 100th cap to play the way he did and have such influence over the team. Especially when changes started coming.”
The changes came all the way through the match but Best was determined to stay on as long as he could. It was only after CJ Stander won Ireland a vital penalty in their own 22, with just over four minutes to go, that Best finally left the fray.
Standing ovation for @RoryBest2 pic.twitter.com/Qt2IqVgEZ3
— Patrick McCarry (@patmccarry) November 26, 2016
The crowd stood as one to let the Ireland captain know he had given it all for his country, again.
His teammates did the rest and got him that win he had fought so hard for.
Dick Clerkin makes his GAA Hour debut to talk about a wonderful career and argue passionately with Colm Parkinson over Sky Sports GAA. Subscribe here on iTunes.
