A captain’s performance from Paul O’Connell paved the way for Ireland to edge out Australia 26-23, according to head coach Joe Schmidt.
It was a second defeat in as many weeks for Australia against RBS 6 Nations teams, after they went down to 29-26 to France last weekend.
Tries from Simon Zebo and Tommy Bowe put Ireland in control of the match, while 16 points off the boot of Jonathan Sexton saw them creep over the line in a thrilling finale in Dublin.
But it was O’Connell who was named man of the match, as the stubborn Ireland side refused to let the game slip away in the manner of last November’s heartbreaking defeat by the All Blacks.
“Paul O’Connell led from the front,” Schmidt told RTE. “There were a couple of fantastic tackles in that last set of Australian attacks.
“We were 17-0 up after about 17 minutes, and it’s still pretty frustrating that we gave them an opportunity to get back into the game – they don’t need too many invites.
“So there’s a little bit of a sense of déjà vu, but it didn’t quite look like it did last year against New Zealand.”
Schmidt only did one interview after the game as he was rushed to hospital to have his appendix removed, having been in agony all day.
The IRFU revealed on Sunday morning the Kiwi was recovering well following the surgery, but O’Connell said Schmidt had not spoken about his illness prior to the match.
“He was completely as normal – stand-offish,” said the 35-year-old Munster lock.
“He didn’t come too close to us all day in case it was something catching. He didn’t want to distract us from our focus. That’s the type of man he is.”
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