It’s 7.50am on Friday. The high-pitched whine is an audible reminder of the wind that buffets the doors of the Radisson hotel in Stillorgan, Co Dublin; the slanting rain being the second element in a two-pronged assault. A seagull seeks shelter under an awning. Joe Schmidt bids farewell to a friend in the lobby, stopping briefly for a chat. Australia will soon make the short hop to Blackrock for their Captain’s Run.
Upstairs, Wallabies skipper Harry Wilson holds court, an engaging interviewee. There are no Australian journalists present, instead a couple take to the online portal. It’ll be a slow day in every respect, once the on-pitch run-though is over. Coffee and Netflix get a mention, the staples for a team confined to base.
Both Wilson and Schmidt mentioned last year’s clash between the countries, a game the Wallabies led until the final eight minutes, when Ireland pilfered a 22-19 win. Andy Farrell’s side have eight survivors in the run-on team, Australia, nine, so there are enough points of difference not to get bogged down by historical reference.
Wilson pointed out that between last November’s meeting and the Lions series the Wallabies have become well versed with the Ireland players. Wilson was asked about one of them, Jack Conan.
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“He’s a really good ball carrier, a strong ball carrier, which you definitely felt during that Lions series. He’s quite good in the lineout too, got a good jump on him, so I think he’ll definitely help their lineout,” he said.
“When you have a player like Caelan Doris move to seven, they’re going to have a lot of good ball carriers in their backrow. That’s a really big point for us where our backrow is going to have to step up and try and stop them there because they’ve obviously picked quite a big one. But I think it’s always exciting when you get to go up against three quality backrows.”
Three kilometres down the road at the Aviva Stadium it was a case of “right back at you” as Caelan Doris, the Ireland captain, was asked about the Aussie loose trio and in particular the indefatigable Fraser McReight.
“Set piece is a big focus area,” Doris said. “Scrum and lineout, how we show up there. Breakdown-wise, I’m obviously playing seven [and] up against McReight, who’s been world-class over the last couple of years. I think he was top poacher in the Rugby Championship and contests a ton of balls. So, breakdown is going to be a big point.
“He’s [McReight] extremely fit. His work-rate is almost unparalleled. We saw a clip of him, I think it was the 76th minute of a game a few weeks back. He makes a tackle, gets off the ground, chases, gets on the end of a ball and scores a try. His stats each game are very high.
“He has got a good skill set as well, he’s a good footballer and has the ability to play the ball off the line. He’s not the biggest guy, but he carries pretty strongly as well. The standout thing is his work rate.”
Doris is unfazed by swapping his traditional role at eight for a crack at openside flanker. He will continue to try to cause chaos at the breakdown. “The first breakdown battle off scrums and lineouts is going to be a difference. Up against McReight, it’s going to be one that I’m looking forward to and need to get right,” he said.
There is a sense that both Ireland and Australia are trying to wriggle out from underneath a blanket of criticism in some quarters that decries a level of recent underperformance. The Wallabies are suffering legacy disappointment from Udine and the 26-19 defeat to Italy; Ireland from the 13-26 defeat to the All Blacks in Chicago and a failure to blossom in the opening 40-minutes against Japan.
Australia are looking for energy to sustain them through the penultimate game of a long season and better discipline in a broad sense; Ireland for improved accuracy at the set piece and in handling. It’s what is missing rather than what’s there that’s generated the greater angst outside of the respective camps.
The final word to Doris. “The World Cup rankings are done in December, so from that point of view it’s massively important but also in terms of continuing the belief and improvement. [To get the result] it’s got to be process-focused, performance-focused, so that is what we are putting our minds towards. It’s the consistency defensively and in what we’re doing in attack that needs to improve this weekend.”
