Ireland v Australia: Nightmare end to last Aviva visit can be forgotten with dream victory under Joe Schmidt

Joe Schmidt's Wallabies resurrection can help wipe out the unwanted memory of Australia's last visit to Dublin, says Jake Gordon.

The experienced scrum-half still kicks himself for conceding a penalty late in the last November clash at the Aviva Stadium. Gordon had been moved to the wing and, with his side losing 13-10, he illegally flew into a maul as the Wallabies attacked in Ireland's 22 and that was that.

"It’s probably not one of my fondest memories," grimaced the Waratahs star. "I was on the wing, not that that’s an excuse! These are great games to be a part of.

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"We just want to show our improvement and how hungry we are to develop as a team, and show the public and also ourselves how good a team we could be.”

Eddie Jones took over and the Wallabies went into freefall at last year's World Cup. Schmidt, who revived Ireland's fortunes over six memorable years, has made a massive difference since succeeding Jones at the start of this year.

Gordon is hoping that the Kiwi's inside knowledge after spending a decade working in Ireland - and working with a lot of Andy Farrell's squad - can serve Australia well on Saturday. But he knows it works both ways.

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"He’d obviously know the individuals in the team really well," he said. "Vice versa, they’d know him exceptionally well as well. Depends which way you want to look at it, but he does have a wealth of knowledge, especially on this side of the globe.

Jake Gordon at Australia's press briefing in Dublin
(Image: ©INPHO/Andrew Conan)

“He’s very detailed. All the coaching staff are. They’ve done a really good job with preparing us every week. With Joe, very detailed around the game. We had some behaviours that we needed to change and be consistent with and he definitely hasn’t left us off the hook in those areas. It’s been awesome.

“I think you’re starting to see some of our game coming together and being more consistent throughout that tour around how we can retain possession and some of our starter plays in attack and the whole game. But that goes back to our whole coaching staff, they’re doing a great job preparing us.”

The Wallabies' exciting progress was stalled at Murrayfield on Sunday when they faded badly in the second half against Scotland. That ended their hopes of a surprise Grand Slam for Schmidt's side. “Yeah, massive game for us," said Gordon. "We were disappointed at the weekend.

"I wouldn’t say we went backwards, but definitely weren’t where we thought we needed to be for that game. We really want to finish the tour well," stressed Gordon.

“It’s a great opportunity against a really great strong Irish team to play some really good rugby and we’re excited for the occasion. The coaches have done a really good job. Fatigue definitely won’t be a factor on the weekend.

Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii of Australia
(Image: ©INPHO/Andrew Fosker)

Their new sensation, 21-year-old centre and Rugby League convert Joseph-Aukuso Sua'ali'i, suffered a wrist injury but there is hope that he could feature at the Aviva Stadium.

“He adds quite a lot, you know, the aerial threat he brings to the game,” Gordon said. "He's a big, tall, strong guy, he can sort of get his hand free in contact and he goes bloody hard as well.

“Like if he's going to run, he's going to run hard. He tackles hard too like you saw on the weekend. But I think his adjustments has been unreal - I think he's looked right at home.

"And he's also a guy who's really keen to learn as well. He spends a lot of time learning the detail around rugby - and I'm happy for him to be at the Waratahs with me next year as well!"

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