Rugby LIVE updates: Heartbreak for the Wallabies as Ireland hold on in Sydney

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Match report: Wallabies heartbreak in Sydney after Ireland hold on

By Iain Payten

How much penalty-kick heartbreak can one nation cope with?

The Wallabies crashed to a gut-wrenching 33-31 defeat to Ireland at Allianz Stadium after a second-half fightback - and a missed penalty goal by Wallabies five-eighth Ben Donaldson after the siren - saw Ireland get out of jail.

Australia led by as much as 24-12 in a thrilling opening half, but Ireland rallied to be hammering the Wallabies’ line for much of the last quarter, and via too much ill-discipline by the home side, finally got one in the 76th minute.

The Wallabies attacked in the dying minutes and had a final throw of the dice when awarded a penalty 40 metres out, and five metres in from the touchline.

After consulting with Wallabies skipper Harry Wilson, the option of kicking to the line was spurned and Donaldson was given an all-or-nothing shot at glory.

The kick made the distance but faded to the right of the uprights.

It was a heartbreaking result for the Wallabies, who had played superbly for much of the game, both in attack and defence, and particularly at the set-piece.

But they paid a price for too much poor discipline in their own half, which gave Ireland the ability to pressure the Wallabies’ line and do enough to get home.

The Wallabies defended bravely on their own line repeatedly as the clock ticked down, but referee Ben O’Keefe was unforgiving on the offside line, and he binned debutant Lachie Shaw for repeated team offences just before Ireland scored the match-winner.

The Wallabies will rue this one. They were the better side for most of the game, and the atmosphere was rocking with a record stadium attendance of 41971. Veteran forwards Rob Valetini and Allan Alaalatoa were outstanding, among a large number of players who turned in strong shifts.

But you need to be clinical when coming up against the world no.3 Ireland side. Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt said pre-game that Ireland “suffocate you”, and that is exactly how it played out.

The Wallabies led 24-19 after a thrilling opening half, but they went into the sheds kicking themselves the margin was just five points to the good.

The home side turned on some outstanding play to score four tries, but they botched a couple more and also allowed Ireland to score after the siren had sounded for halftime.

The sold-out crowd were treated to a Wallabies try as they were still settling into their seats, after a pressured Ireland lineout gave the hosts the ball in good territory. Len Ikitau stepped back into the role of playmaker and within a handful of phases, they’d stretched the Irish enough to make an extra man on the right edge, and Dylan Pietsch dived over.

The Irish responded in the 10th minute when ill-discipline at the maul saw the visitors hammering the line and Cian Prendergast burrowed over for a try.

The Wallabies were doing better running out of their half than kicking, and the Irish midfield defence began to give up some gaps. Carter Gordon made a charge through in the 14th minute, which led to a try for Jock Campbell in the same corner as Pietsch’s five-pointer.

The exits continued to be a problem for Australia, however, and another poor kick and more ill-discipline gave the Irish good territory. The Wallabies’ defence was stout, but penalties made life harder. Ireland hooker Dan Sheenan showed guile with a nice tap when he charged at the line and threatened to do his “Superman” routine from the second Lions Test last year. But offloaded and found running hard Josh Van Der Flier at an angle, and a try in the 18th minute.

The Wallabies had much the better of the second quarter, however, and some great second-wave attack opened up more midfield gaps. A big Bobby Valetini run saw Ryan Lonergan brought down just short of the line, but Josh Canham burrowed over for his first Test try soon after.

The home crowd were in raptures when Max Jorgensen set up another try, stripping the ball from Sam Prendergast and running upfield, before offloading to Lonergan for a try.

The Wallabies could have had two more, but Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii knocked the ball on after a big break where he ignored an open Jorgensen. And the winger soon after couldn’t grab a pass from Harry Wilson that would have also given him an open run to the line.

Ireland did superbly to score after the halftime hooter, where they ran a scrum from their own 22 and went 80 metres to find gaps in Australia’s tiring defence, and score through Jamison Gibson-Park.

The Irish kept the momentum after halftime, too, via some short kicking and ill-discipline at the lineout, which gave the visitors access to the Wallaby line.

Hugo Keenan ran a hard line from and scored in the 47th to reclaim the lead for Ireland.

But it was short-lived, with the Wallabies rolling back downfield via more big charges by Valetini. A quick tap by new halfback Tate McDermott saw the livewire Reds star dart towards the line and burrow through the defence.

Things took a bizarre turn in the 58th minute when more ill-discipline in their own half saw the Wallabies defending their line, and Sheehan appeared to score from a lineout maul. It appeared James Ryan had obstructed Valetini, however.

It was awarded by Ben O’Keefe but Wilson charged out to object and call for a TMO review. He was waved away, the conversion was kicked for a 33-31 lead and both touch judges even came out to settle the skipper down.

But Wilson charged up to the kickoff and told Ben Donaldson to not restart, and eventually O’Keefe called for a TMO review. After five minutes, the try was disallowed.

The game wasn’t done yet, however. Ireland continued to push, and they got there with a few minutes to spare through a last gasp try from prop Thomas Clarkson.