The Australian Wallabies are staring down the barrel of their first winless tour of Europe in 67 years after a chastening record defeat to Ireland in Dublin. The final score of 46-19 at a rain-swept Lansdowne Road on Saturday night leaves coach Joe Schmidt's men with one final chance to salvage pride against France in Paris.
Hansen's Haunting Hat-Trick Sinks Wallabies
The story of the match was written by an Australian-born hero for the opposition. Mack Hansen, the maverick speedster from Canberra, delivered a devastating first-half performance, scoring a hat-trick of tries within the opening 28 minutes. Playing at fullback, Hansen, whose mother is Irish and who has become a firm favourite with the local supporters, looked razor-sharp despite recently returning from a long-term foot injury.
His clinical finishing buried the Wallabies early, and the visitors never truly recovered. The Wallabies did manage first-half scores from Len Ikitau and Fraser McReight, but they were always playing catch-up against a rampant Irish side.
Irish Onslaught and Australian Collapse
Any hope of a second-half fightback was extinguished in a brutal final quarter. With the Wallabies reduced to 14 men after a late yellow-red card for Nick Frost, Ireland capitalised mercilessly. Captain Caelan Doris, Ryan Baird, and Robbie Henshaw all powered over for tries, turning a contest into a rout.
By the final whistle, the Wallabies appeared a shattered and weary rabble, with Billy Pollard's 74th-minute try offering only the faintest of consolations. The 46-19 result stands as Ireland's biggest-ever victory over Australia.
Schmidt and Wilson Search for Positives
In the aftermath, coach Joe Schmidt attempted to find a glimmer of hope. 'A tough one to take, obviously,' he told Stan Sport. He pointed to a key line-out near the Irish line around the 60-minute mark, suggesting that had they scored, they could have been within a score with 20 minutes remaining.
He defended his team's effort, stating, 'I honestly believe it's not because the players stopped working hard. They were trying.' However, he conceded that trying too hard led to over-chasing and errors that a team as efficient as Ireland will always punish.
Wallabies skipper Harry Wilson echoed the sentiment, praising the team's character in the first half but admitting, 'in that second half, we just got drowned out... It's really disappointing because we're better than that.' The team now faces a monumental task against the Six Nations champions France to avoid an unwanted place in the history books.
