Player Ratings: True resilience
The home side lost quite a few players to injury before the match and again the early in the first half against a talented Australian outfit.
However, some of the youngsters stood up brilliantly at the Aviva Stadium to help pave the way for victory.
Warren Fortune rates the Irish players!
15 Rob Kearney:
Went off injured after 12 minutes.
Not enough time to be rated.
14 Andrew Trimble:
He was immense out wide and was quite often the go-to man for Ireland to get over the advantage line.
7/10
13 Jared Payne:
He did not have many opportunities to run with the ball, but his distribution to his outside backs was fantastic.
6/10
12 Garry Ringrose:
The youngster was not afraid to put his head down and take the ball up. He also scored a great try.
7/10
11 Keith Earls:
He was shocking out wide on defence, but he did have a few good runs and scored a crucial try as well.
6/10
10 Paddy Jackson:
He controlled matters well for the Irish on attack and held his own on defence despite a few missed tackles.
7/10
9 Conor Murray:
It was not one of his best performances in an Irish jersey, but he did what was asked of him and provided his backline with some quick service.
7/10
8 Jamie Heaslip:
He was quiet for large periods and did not have the impact that Joe Schmidt would have wanted.
5/10
7 Josh van der Flier:
He was a rock on defence for the Irish and really made his presence felt in the physical exchanges.
7/10
6 Christiaan Stander:
His work rate around the field was phenomenal – he made more runs than anybody else in his team.
8/10
5 Devin Toner:
He gave his team some much-needed grunt up front and he did his part in the line-outs as well.
6/10
4 Iain Henderson:
The big lock had one of his best games for Ireland. He carried the ball strongly and scored a fantastic try.
8/10
3 Tadhg Furlong:
He did some good work in the scrums and was not afraid to bash the ball up as well.
6/10
2 Rory Best:
He really led by example up front and his line-out throwing was accurate throughout the game.
7/10
1 Jack McGrath:
Another one who impressed at scrum time. He also did a lot of work in open play as well.
7/10
Replacements:
16 Sean Cronin (On for R Best, 76th min):
Not enough time to be rated.
17 Cian Healy (On for McGrath, 61st min):
He continued where Jack McGrath left off in the scrums but did not do much with ball in hand.
6/10
18 Finlay Bealham (On for T Furlong, 71st min):
Not enough time to be rated.
19 Ultan Dillane (On for I Henderson, 56th min):
He could not match Henderson's intensity on the field, but he did his part in the set piece.
5/10
20 Peter O'Mahony (On for J Heaslip, 61st min):
He did not make much of an impact and he missed a few tackles as well
4/10
21 Kieran Marmion (On for J Payne, 40th min):
He showed plenty of skill with ball in hand and was brave on defence as well.
6/10
22 Joey Carbery (On for A Trimble, 31st min):
Missed a few tackles, but like Kieran Marmion he dazzled a bit with the ball and he did well in the second half.
6/10
23 Simon Zebo (On for R Kearney, 12th min):
He was brilliant with ball in hand and he gave the Irish an extra edge on attack when he came onto the field.
8/10
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