Australia captain Harry Wilson believes his team have “a good plan” laid out to end their five game losing run against Ireland on Saturday.
It’s eight years since the Wallabies last beat Ireland, an 18-9 win in Brisbane in the first of that year’s Test series, which the tourists ultimately came from behind to win 2-1.
Andy Farrell’s side have won a further three in a row, all at Aviva Stadium, the latest of which saw them put up a record 46 points on Australia in a 27-point victory.
That game was the low-point of a desperate November for Joe Schmidt’s side, who were also beaten by England, Italy and France.
Ahead of their first game of 2026, their captain and number 8 believes their luck is about to turn.
“We’re another year together. We’re connected. We’re a close group,” Wilson said, ahead of tomorrow’s meeting at Allianz Stadium, Sydney.
“Joe’s really making us keep trying to improve and keep adapting as a team. And we feel we’ve had a really good few weeks prep.
“We’ve really enjoyed our training together and had a good preparation. Now it’s about us going out there and putting a good performance in.”
Ireland hammered Australia 46-19 when the sides met in November
This will be Australia’s first game since that winless November tour, but they have used that time to study this weekend’s opponents, whom Wilson believes added another layer to their game during the Six Nations.
“We’ve definitely seen a bit of change [In Ireland]. Obviously, the Six Nations is a hell of a competition and we’ve made sure to have a look through them all,” he said.
“The nice thing about the first Test match of the year, the coaches have had the last four or five months on them seeing ways for us to go about our game this weekend against them and we feel like we’ve got a good plan and now it’s on us to go out there and execute against them.
“It’s a really good back row there. Obviously, we versed Van der Flier and Conan last year in the British and Irish Lions and we know what sort of players they are and obviously [Cian] Prendergast, we haven’t seen too much of him compared to the other two, but we’ve done our research and he’s quite an abrasive player.
“So, it’s a really good challenge and it’s something we really look forward to.
“I guess we’ve got to win the collisions on our attacking breakdown, they’ve got a lot of threats on the defensive side of the ball around the breakdown so we’ve got to be on there.
“We’ve got to make sure we get quick ball and ultimately as a forward pack, we can create quick balls. We give our backs opportunity to play some really good attacking footy.
“We’ve got some incredible backs and it’s on us as a forwards to make sure we get the right sort of ball.”
While it’s eight years since the Wallabies beat Ireland, it hasn’t been lost on those players that they haven’t had a chance to host this fixture since, with the 2020 Test series between these sides falling victim to Covid-19.
And Wilson (above) is hoping home advantage can stand to his side tomorrow, as they feed off the energy of a huge weekend in Australian sport, with the soccer team in World Cup last-32 action against Egypt.
“It’s the whole country getting behind it, everyone going to pubs and watching it. It’s a really cool time when you see a whole nation get behind a sport.
“I guess it’s a really big day of sport tomorrow in Australia when you’ve got the Socceroos, you’ve even got the Demon [Alex de Minaur] over in Wimbledon.
“Then with us, it’s an exciting day for Australian sport and hopefully it’s a really good day.
“It’s so awesome to have all the support we’ve got behind us and we know it’s on us to put out the performances and to win Test matches for our country, especially in our own backyard here.
“There’s no better way to start against the number three Test team in the world. We know who we’re versing, we know how classy they are and I’m sure we’ll go out there and put a really good performance in.
“Australia will keep getting behind us and it’s exciting for us because it’s on us to put the performances in.
“It’s all in our hands and that’s really exciting.”
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