“Ireland have already done a great service for Australian rugby… they’ve sold out the Sydney Test already and the sales are really good for Brisbane and Melbourne.”
Irish rugby supporters will be out in force during their country’s Test series against Michael Cheika’s Australia and one would be hard pressed to find many locals that fancy the hosts to see off the Grand Slam champions.
Wallabies fullback Israel Folau and prop Tom Robertson have not exactly scouted the Irish team too well, providing added motivation to a side already on a 12-match winning streak. Folau admitted he did not know much about Joe Schmidt’s side while Robertson talked up the virtues of Rory Best, despite the fact that the injured Ireland captain will miss the entire tour.
One man who is all too aware of the potency of the travelling Ireland side is Alex Broun. The Sports 360 rugby writer joined The Hard Yards to preview the three-Test series [from 8:30 below] and he highlighted a few Irish players he is more than wary of.
Cheika may have labelled the tourists as the ‘Jolly Green Giants’ but Broun believes he is well aware of the threat Ireland will pose, and their capabilities of getting a 3-0 series win. He name-checked several Irish players to watch for over the coming weeks.
Credit: Natwest 6 Nations“I’ve watched a lot of Ireland this year and James Ryan is a phenomenal player, if you needed it because you’ve already got another one [Iain Henderson].
“The back row is extraordinary and the front five, with those four Leinster props [and John Ryan]. It’s almost unfair that Leinster have that many good props!
“And then you go out wide to Jacob Stockdale and, oh, what a player. Down in Australia they are calling him the Irish Jonah Lomu. He’s an amazing player.
Jacob Stockdale is like @BrianODriscoll and Jonah Lomu rolled into one! #IREvENG #Immense
— Keira Doyle (@keira_doyle) March 17, 2018
Broun, who was press officer for the British & Irish Lions in 2001, was not done yet. The Irish backline, he maintains, are littered with top talents.
And I’m a big, big fan of Bundee Aki and he might not even start. He might not play.
“When you’ve got two players like Conor Murray and Johnny Sexton, who just control the game to the level that you know they will, and you’ve got great players outside like Rob Kearney and the experience of Keith Earls… the great thing about this Ireland team is that it practically picks itself.”
Asked to name one dangerman, the Aussie pundit named seven while praising the Irish front and back rows. Some going,
In contrast, Broun recalled a tweet he saw recently from a well-connected individual within Australian rugby circles. “He said he looked at the Wallabies squad and he could only recognise about 10 names,” said Broun.
