Ireland on Saturday fought back from a halftime deficit to mark a 150th anniversary with a scruffy 22-19 victory over Australia, sealing the victory in the last eight minutes and denying their former coach Joe Schmidt a winning return.
The home side, celebrating Irish rugby’s birthday, were 13-5 down at the break, but rallied back from an error-filled first half to post a narrow success.
Ireland’s points came from tries by Josh van der Flier, captain Caelan Doris and substitute Gus McCarthy, with new flyhalf Sam Prendergast contributing a penalty and conversion and his replacement Jack Crowley a conversion.
Photo: Reuters
Max Jorgensen scored Australia’s lone try, with Noah Lolesio kicking over four penalties and a conversion, as they lost for a second straight week after Scotland beat them on Nov. 24.
Ireland lost their 20-match unbeaten home record to New Zealand in a lackluster display last month and looked off form again on Saturday in a scrappy first half against the Wallabies, where Schmidt has been trying to build a winning team in much the same way he did when he was in charge of Ireland.
Australia got the first try in the 19th minute from 20-year-old winger Jorgensen at the end of an expansive sweep down the line after a kick into the 22, which Ireland never dealt with. Jorgensen beat Jamison Gibson-Park in a foot race to slide over in the corner.
Photo: Reuters
However, Ireland replied four minutes later as Van der Flier punched over the line, following a lineout. Captain Doris carried the ball close to the line before Gibson-Park played a short ball for Van der Flier to power over.
Australia’s eight-point lead at the interval was wiped out within the first five minutes of the second half as first Prendergast put over a penalty and then Doris scored a try under the post and the conversion had Ireland 15-13 ahead.
Ill discipline threatened to cost the Irish when substitute Tom O’Toole was penalized for not releasing after the tackle, allowing Lolesio to put over his third penalty of the game and have Australia one point up in the 56th minute. Doris gave away another penalty seven minutes later and Lolesio put his side 19-15 ahead.
However, with eight minutes left, Ireland’s increasing pressure paid dividends when they won a penalty for a late hit on Hugo Keenan and kicked into the corner, with McCarthy carrying it over from the subsequent lineout maul to win the game.
“It’s always going to be tough against a side coached by Joe Schmidt. We dominated possession and territory in first half, but lack accuracy in their 22, but it was better in the second half,” Doris said.
Major League Baseball (MLB) star Shohei Ohtani wants his former interpreter to hand over hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of baseball cards he says were fraudulently bought using his money. The Los Angeles Dodgers star is also requesting Ippei Mizuhara, who previously pleaded guilty to bank and tax fraud for stealing nearly US$17 million from the unsuspecting athlete, return signed collectible baseball cards depicting Ohtani that were in Mizuhara’s “unauthorized and wrongful possession,” court documents filed on Tuesday said. The legal filing alleges Mizuhara accessed Ohtani’s bank account beginning in about November 2021, changing his security protocols so that he
US skier Mikaela Shiffrin said she sustained an abrasion on her left hip and that something “stabbed” her when she crashed during her second run of an Audi FIS Ski World Cup giant slalom race on Saturday, doing a flip and sliding into the protective fencing. Shiffrin stayed down on the edge of the course for quite some time as the ski patrol attended to her. She was taken off the hill on a sled and waved to the cheering crowd before going to a clinic for evaluation. “Not really too much cause for concern at this point, I just
CLASH OF MANAGERS: Brighton’s Fabian Hurzeler and Russell Martin of Southampton accused each other of disrespect, while both were booked Southampton on Friday were denied a priceless victory by a controversial decision as they drew with hosts Brighton & Hove Albion 1-1 in the Premier League. Kaoru Mitoma spectacularly headed Brighton into a first-half lead and Flynn Downes hammered home an equalizer an hour in. Minutes later teammate Cameron Archer converted a cross from Saints substitute Ryan Fraser. A video assistant referee check of more than four minutes eventually decided that Archer was onside, but then penalized Adam Armstrong, who was offside, but did not touch the ball, for interfering with goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen. “I find it hard to accept,” Southampton manager Russell Martin
Mary McGee, a female racing pioneer and subject profiled in an Oscar-contending documentary, Motorcycle Mary, has died, her family said. She was 87. “McGee’s unparalleled achievements in off-road racing and motorcycle racing have inspired generations of athletes that followed in her footsteps,” her family said in a statement. The family said McGee died of complications from a stroke at her home in Gardnerville, Nevada, on Wednesday, the day before the release of the short documentary Motorcycle Mary, on ESPN’s YouTube channel. Seven-time Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton was an executive producer on the film, which became available globally on Thursday. Its premiere