Rugby World Cup 2011: Australia v Ireland – live! | Scott Murray

• Hit F5 to refresh or turn on the automatic widget below • Email your thoughts to scott.murray@guardian.co.uk • Watch World Cup video highlights, interviews and more • Visit our dedicated Rugby World Cup site 5 min: Rob Kearney hits Kurtley Beale with a ridiculous high tackle. That was almost moustache height. That’ll be a penalty to Australia, who toy with the idea of kicking for the corner, but think better of showing such rank disrespect. James O’Connor will kick, ten yards in from the left on the 22. 4 min: This is already shaping up into a tidy battle. Ireland stream forward into the Aussie half, going on a couple of sorties, but after setting a ruck, the Wallabies counter-ruck brilliantly and make off up the other end of the pitch. That romp comes to nothing too, but both teams have come out with a very positive mindset. And we’re off! Australia kick off. Earls takes the catch, and steps carelessly into touch. Not a good start for the Irish. The Wallabies win the line out on the Irish 22, and set themselves in the centre of the park, but good work from the Irish forwards reclaims the ball. There’s a brief brouhaha, Sean O’Brien in the middle of it, swinging wild haymakers in the JD Wetherspoon style. And a penalty to Ireland, as it appears O’Brien was reacting to some Aussie sauce. The early danger is over. The teams are out! Australia are in their trademark gold and green, Ireland their fully copyrighted green and white. There’s the traditional Māori welcome of a big topless bloke playing hard bop on an exceptionally large wooden tube, in scenes not totally dissimilar to Mulligan and O’Hare’s interpretation of Another Day In Paradise . And then it’s a blast of Advance Australia Fair and Ireland’s Call. They’ll be a-passin’ and a-puntin’ in a minute! Getting One’s Excuses In Early (Preserve Of Northern Hemisphere Fans) dept. “Firstly I dont see us winning, we will lose like heroes as usual, but a loss is a loss.” That’s the spirit, Anthony O’Connell. “On the RWC, I think it is unfair on all teams, with the exception of Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. These three teams come into the competition at the back end of their season whereas the vast majority with any chance of winning are still basically in pre-season. Nothing beats competitive games, friendlies are worth nothing. Play it in March and I think our home nations would do a lot better.” Venue: The 60,000-capacity Eden Park in Auckland. Referee: Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand) Kick off: 9.30am BST (which is 9.30pm in the Kiwi coin). Australia: Beale, O’Connor, Fainga’a, McCabe, Ashley-Cooper, Cooper, Genia; Kepu, Moore, Alexander, Vickerman, Horwill, Elsom, McCalman, Samo. Replacements: Polota-Nau, Slipper, Simmons, Palu, Higginbotham, Burgess, Mitchell. Ireland: Kearney, Bowe, O’Driscoll, D’Arcy, Earls, Sexton, Reddan; Healy, Best, Ross, O’Callaghan, O’Connell, Ferris, O’Brien, Heaslip. Replacements: Cronin, Court, Ryan, Leamy, Murray, O’Gara, Trimble. And so to the teams. And the big news is, the influential Wallaby openside flanker David Pocock has failed a late fitness test; Ben McCalman will replace him. Not looking on the bright side II: The Irish have been out on the lash , according to the tabloids us. The bar tab ran to £1,600, which sounds quite a lot, until you factor in food, and that there’s about 600 people in the touring party. And anyway, aren’t rugby players supposed to roister-doister around the joint, necking pints with reckless abandon so we don’t have to? These are austere times, so let us at least live vicariously, for goodness sake. Exile on Main Street wouldn’t sound half as good if Keith Richards didn’t have heroin rolling out of his eyeballs when he was making it, now would it? Not looking on the bright side: Ireland always give Australia a game, yet nearly always conspire to lose it. Ireland, of course, are in the middle of their worst patch of form for years and years and years. Four consecutive losses coming into the tournament, and an opening-match disgrace against the USA. But let’s look on the bright side: they always give Australia a game. Morning, everyone! So here come Australia, whose second-half performance against Italy was probably the most impressive by any team in the tournament so far. Do Ireland have a strategy in place to deal with these guys? “The night before grabbing hold of them, locking them up and putting them in a room somewhere? Short of that, no.” Les Kiss, there, Ireland’s defence coach. Hmm. Rugby World Cup 2011 Australia rugby union team Ireland rugby union team Rugby union Scott Murray guardian.co.uk

Posted by on September 17, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.