Mistakes at this level punished

Match quotes: There were a few envious glances cast in the direction of the "Subiaco Nine", the Irish players who had been granted an early release from this tour.

Victor Costello, Malcolm O'Kelly, Gary Longwell, Keith Gleeson, Kevin Maggs, Geordan Murphy, Peter Stringer, David Humphreys and James Topping boarded a flight home to Dublin yesterday, excused for the two-week trip to the Pacific Islands of Tonga and Samoa.

The disappointment and frustration was evident as the players shuffled around outside the dressing-room in the bowels of the impressive Subiaco Oval in Perth.

Alan Quinlan had a fine game, his marauding, confrontational irreverence evident in a high tackle count. "It was very, very disappointing. We were confident coming in that we could do well. We made a lot of mistakes in the second half and you can't do that against the world champions. They duly punished us every time.

"We had a bit of bad luck, certainly the bounces didn't go our way. Having said that they were very alert and snapped up the chances and to some extent you make your own luck.

"Everyone tried their hearts out but we were scrambling to stay alive. We knew we let ourselves down in the second half, throwing balls on the ground and making mistakes. In other games you might get away with them but you shouldn't expect to. They were flattered by the final scoreline. We still believe we can compete at this level."

John Kelly had the satisfaction of scoring arguably the best try Ireland have conjured in quite a while. "Humphs (David Humphreys) did well for the try. It was a simple inside loop and he drew the man; there was a bit of space as we had stretched them at that stage, dragging them from side to side. I just saw there was a bit of a gap and went for it.

"The first half was very enjoyable. We had soaked up a lot and defended very well. The second wasn't so pleasant as we were playing catch-up and its very nature means you are forced to take chances. When you do that you run risks. They came in and made hits or we made mistakes and they scored off those."

He was a central figure in Australia's final try, harshly penalised by referee Nigel Williams for hampering Elton Flatley as both players chased a ball in the Irish in-goal area. "I don't think it was a penalty try. The ball bounced to my left. I went in with my shoulder to just try and get in front of him. The next thing is I go down and he goes down with me. There was no intention there."

Costello was probably Ireland's outstanding player on the day, his performance all the more laudable because the Australians would have been primed to stop him but more often than not couldn't on the gain line.

"Despite that result I wouldn't fear the Australians come World Cup time. There are things we have to do but I believe us capable of that."

Coach Eddie O'Sullivan wasn't disheartened: "I suppose the emotions are a bit mixed. I thought we played some really good rugby, were decisive at times; we just couldn't get enough time on the ball in the first half to punish them and in the second half, the soft scores killed us.

"One was a lucky bounce, one was a turnover in their 22 and one was a penalty try. If you take 21 points off the scoreline 24-16; that's a game. That's hard to swallow. At this level it's a very harsh game.

"The effort in the first half told in the second. We did really well in the first half to be within a point of them. I was hoping if we could start the second well. Victor had a smashing game, Alan Quinlan did very well, John Kelly had a fine game, Geordan did well on limited possession, Marcus Horan was another to shine; good individual performances.

"I'm disappointed but not shattered by it. There are certain areas of that performance we can tighten up on.

"I'm most pleased with the try. It's something we're working on to take teams through a number of phases and eventually score playing good rugby."