So after their momentous win over the All Blacks in their first test against them in the autumn series, the Irish found themselves a long way short of backing that up in their second game against them. The Irish were beaten 9-21, New Zealand coming out and avenging their shock defeat against the men in green a couple of weeks prior. So with the Irish now having to pick themselves up from that loss in Dublin, they have another tough game coming on the weekend as they play host to Australia.
Ireland are waiting on late fitness tests to CJ Stander, Rob Keener and Simon Zebo for the game, while they have lost Johnny Sexton and Robbie Henshaw for the game through injury. This is the fourth and final game in their autumn series then (with Ireland having beaten Canada as well) and the Irish will want to go out with a bang here. If they don’t then they may feel like the series was not a particularly great success for them. Ireland are now the fourth ranked team in the world, a position they assumed after beating the All Blacks at Soldier Field in Chicago at the start of the month.
But even in their defeat against the All Blacks, there was huge positives for Ireland. They controlled territory and possession and they forced the usually cool Kiwis in all manners of mistakes. Unlike in Chicago though, the Irish couldn’t break the All Blacks deference. So what of the challenge of Australia, who conceded 108 points in three straight defeats against New Zealand recently?
Well they seem to have rebooted themselves. Following their heavy defeats to the Kiwis in the Rugby Championship and Bledisloe Cup, they have hit the ground running in the autumn tour. They have already recorded a convincing win over Wales in Cardiff and they edged out Scotland before also narrowly edging France in a thriller in Paris as well. So they are enjoying their tour, they are committed and resilient and they are hungry to keep up the momentum before they go off and face old rivals England at Twickenham at the start of December.
The Wallabies lost 3-0 in their home series against England this year remember. So the Wallabies appear to have turned a corner and the new guys are finding their feet and will want to use the Ireland game as a stepping stone to getting back at the English. Ireland are going at 9/10 at Paddy Power to take the win on home soil, with Australia at 15/13 in a pretty tight market.
This will be the 33rd meeting between the two nations and Australia hold a 21-10 head to head lead from that. The last time that they met Ireland took a 26-23 win back in November 2014 but that been just one of three wins for Ireland in the last ten against the Wallabies. Ireland have averaged 14 points per game against the Wallabies in their head to head, while in return, Australia have averaged 20 points per game against Ireland. That gives you a six point average difference per game for Australia but there is an Ireland -1 handicap on the game at Paddy Power for a price of 10/11.
There is a tremendous rugby international betting promotion available at online betting site Paddy Power and it applies to all British and Irish Autumn Rugby Internationals. If your team selection in the outright market on a game is winning at 70 minutes but then fails to win the game, then Paddy Power will refund your lost stake as a free bet. There is a maximum of a £20 free bet to be earned back from the promotion applies to pre-match singles in the Match Betting market only.
