Ireland vs Australia LIVE: Rugby result and reaction from autumn international as Ireland edge to tight win
Ireland 13-10 Australia: Ross Byrne’s late pressure penalty was enough for the hosts to edge to victory after Bundee Aki got their only try
Ross Byrne landed a dramatic late penalty as Ireland overcame the loss of captain Johnny Sexton to cap a stellar year with a disjointed 13-10 win over Australia. Replacement fly-half Byrne nailed a difficult kick from wide on the right with just three minutes remaining in Dublin to earn Ireland a record-equalling 12th successive home victory.
Andy Farrell’s men struggled for large parts of a disappointing contest and could easily have ended 2022 with a serious reality check against opponents beaten by Italy just last weekend.
Ireland centre Bundee Aki marked his return from an eight-game ban with the opening try but the game remained in the balance in the closing stages after Jordan Petaia crossed for the Wallabies.
A difficult evening for the Irish began with talisman Sexton withdrawing through injury, with his deputy Jack Crowley booting five points on his maiden Test start before Byrne, who was elevated to the bench at the 11th hour, proving to be the match-winner.
Relive the action from the autumn international between Ireland and Australia below:
Scotland 0-3 Argentina, 6 minutes
The first scrum of the afternoon hits the deck, with Pierre Schoeman deemed to have hinged - perhaps harsh, that, as it looked like Eduardo Bello was slightly too long in his set-up. Anyway, an Argentina penalty.
Scotland 0-3 Argentina, 5 minutes
Scotland kick down towards the Argentina 22.
Funky! A darty lineout to the front from Fraser Brown and then the hooker fancies a return, but Jamie Ritchie’s netball pass back to him is a yard or so forward, and flies into touch. A nifty idea, but work needed on the execution.
Scotland 0-3 Argentina, 4 minutes
Ali Price gets more underneath his box kick than he’d like, and Argentina take it well. Santiago Carreras puts up a crossfield kick, and Argentina manage to claw it back, but it tumbles forward from a knee and is played by an offside player.
Scotland 0-3 Argentina, 3 minutes
Argentina do rather better with the restart, Gonzalo Bertranou kicking up the right touchline and Stuart Hogg chopped in half by Bautista Delguy.
Scotland kick, Finn Russell trying to turn Argentina, but Juan Cruz Mallia tracks it well.
A prolonged kicking exchange sees Emiliano Boffelli nearly get to Mallia’s next high hoist, but Russell does well to both take and flick an offload away.
PENALTY! Scotland 0-3 ARGENTINA (Emiliano Boffelli penalty, 2 minutes)
Smooth as you like from Boffelli. Argentina into an immediate lead.
Scotland 0-0 Argentina, 1 minute
And that’s an excellent start for the visitors - a sharp tackle after a hanging restart, and Marcos Kremer’s counter-ruck earns a breakdown penalty.
Julian Montoya gestures towards the post. On comes the tee for Emiliano Boffelli.
Off we go!
Argentina kick off, and the final match of the year for these two sides is underway.
Officials
England’s Karl Dickson is our whistle-man this afternoon, with Brett Cronan of Australia ready to assist as the TMO.
Flower of Scotland
The Saltires wave along to the pleasant opening piping of “Flower of Scotland”. It looks another full Murrayfield house for the last Test of the year for Scotland.
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