From the moment Jonathan Sexton slewed his opening penalty kick infield instead of into touch, and Ireland lost their first lineout, and Sean O'Brien dropped the first pass that came his way, it was clear that this was going to be a difficult day for the home team. It grew worse after that, ending as a night without passion in the honeymoon period afforded to the new coach, Joe Schmidt.
Even worse for the disciple of accuracy, it was a game without precision, barring the four first-half penalties by Sexton, kicks that kept Ireland in touch with Australia, who took full advantage of the defensive confusion before them to score two tries in this period. Nick Cummins and Mike Hooper, both blond, shaggy and hair-banded, stayed out wide and took the final passes at the end of sweeping movements in which Stephen Moore played a prominent part. Pushing or striking at the scrum, throwing into the lineout, or passing in open play, the hooker was everything Ireland were not.
A solitary penalty in the second half by Ian Madigan, on for the hamstrung Sexton, counted for very little against another pair of tries, one by Quade Cooper, who barely had to glide through a gaping hole straight from a scrum, and a second for Hooper, who steered a driving maul – all bar three of the team added their weight – to the line from a lineout. At every point of contact Ireland came off second best.
Asked if he could put his finger on what had gone wrong, Schmidt said: "I have a few fingers on a few different spots."
The coach is obviously asking his team to do new things, and for the moment – this was only their second exposure to Test conditions – these practices are not second nature. As Ireland laboured their way through their routines, unfamiliarity dogged their every step. Passes went forward, angled runs ran Irish shirts into Irish shirts. Tommy Bowe of all people, one of the most intuitive of wingers, with a fail-safe GPS positional programme, cut infield instead of staying outside Rob Kearney in a rare buildup of promise.
Once this collective co-ordination had gone, it was soon followed by confidence across the board. What suffered most in the clunking quest for accuracy was accuracy itself. And then the defensive system fell apart, the channels of communication – telling who to tackle what where – breaking down. Everybody struggled, including Brian O'Driscoll, who came off looking bruised and weary, and Kearney, who dropped a simple high ball, surely the first aerial fumble of his career.
Australia, on the other hand, grew more polished and positively galloped to their first back-to-back wins of the year. The forwards, savaged since the Lions tour for the frailty of their scrummaging won the battle of the set pieces, with Moore a tower of strength. The wing forwards, Hooper and Scott Fardy, found life so much sweeter on the front foot for a change, although Hooper did have a discordant moment, sent to the bin for preventing release of the ball while on defensive duty.
There was a moment of excess too by Tevita Kuridrani, who, perhaps intoxicated by this chance to throw a few opponents around, spear-tackled Peter O'Mahony and was shown the more serious colour of card,a straight red. It summed up Ireland's night when, against 14, Sean Cronin finally crossed the line, only to be recalled after video review for a knock-on by Conor Murray.
There was still pre-match talk about a rugby union crisis in Australia. How much more gloom could the nation take? Well, the Wallabies have won two out of three, with Scotland and Wales to come. England denied them a grand slam, but they are looking increasingly assured, purposeful and inventive.
Honeymoon periods do not lend themselves to crises, but Ireland have to respond quickly. On Sunday the unbeaten All Blacks rumble into Dublin. A sombre captain, Paul O'Connell, struck a defiant note. "It's everyone's own job to lift themselves now. We've a good core group of top-quality players, who are disappointed with what we delivered today. We will put that right."
The theme of rallying Ireland was picked up by the new coach: "I can assure you there'll be some intensity on Sunday," said Schmidt. "It's tougher for us to take what happened today than for anyone watching." After the flattest of days on the big stage, it will be a decidedly heated week back in the rehearsal rooms of the Irish game.
Ireland R Kearney (Henshaw, 73); Bowe, O'Driscoll, Marshall, McFadden; Sexton (Madigan, h-t), Reddan (Murray, 56); Healy (McGrath, 66), Best (Cronin, 68), Ross (Archer, 66), Toner (McCarthy, 69), O'Connell (capt), O'Mahony, O'Brien (McLaughin, 70), Heaslip.
Pens Sexton 4, Madigan.
Australia Folau; Ashley-Cooper (Tomane, 58), Kuridrani, Toomua, Cummins; Cooper (Leali'ifano, 70), Genia (White, 66); Slipper, Moore, Kepu (Ryan, 66), Simmons, Horwill (Timani, 56), Fardy, Hooper (Gill, 72), Mowen (capt).
Tries Cummins, Hooper 2, Cooper. Cons Cooper 3. Pens Cooper 2.
Referee C Pollock (NZ). Attendance 46,000.
