Autumn Nations Series: Ireland v Australia, Aviva Stadium, Saturday, 8.10pm – Live on RTÉ 2 & TNT Sports 1
The footballers have put it up to them now and how, both players and fans alike. The Aviva was a fever long into Thursday night and the atmosphere will hardly scale those heights just two nights later. But it surely can only inspire the rugby team, and supporters as well.
Granted the stakes of world ranking points and a better seeding for next month’s World Cup draw aren’t as high. Nor could the Wallabies possibly reproduce such a pantomime villain. But in what is likely to be Joe Schmidt’s last competitive visit to the stadium he knows best and succeeded in most, Ireland could do with some evidence to back up their belief that they are still one of the world’s best sides. Both for themselves and the supporters.
After the giddy heights of 2022 and 2023, perhaps Irish rugby has become a little too expectant, a little too entitled. There was always the likelihood of Ireland not maintaining those levels consistently. The rebuild has perhaps not been as radical as the impatient might have wished, but in part thanks to retirements and injuries, only 11 of the matchday 23 of the World Cup quarter-final do so here.
Perhaps growing a little impatient himself, while
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