By Cathal Dervan

Two games and two defeats into the new season, now is the autumn of Irish rugby’s discontent.

A week after they were hammered by New Zealand’s reserves, Ireland did go some way to restoring faith against Australia’s Wallabies at Lansdowne Road last Saturday.

But the end result, a 30-14 loss, was just the same as Australia joined the Kiwis, France and Wales as sides to secure victories against the Irish in 2005.

This victory was more than a poor Australia deserved, if truth be told, a victory that looked totally improbable as Ireland led 6-3 at halftime after dominating the opening exchanges.

Once again though Ireland, employing a new forward thinking tactical plan at Eddie O’Sullivan’s bequest, made silly errors at crucial stages, suffered from poor handling and paid the price for a bad day at the office for half-back partners Ronan O’Gara and Peter Stringer.

The home side led 6-3 at the break after their back and front rows totally dominated their opposite numbers from the Southern Hemisphere but should have had more than two Ronan O’Gara penalties to show for their efforts.

The error of their scoring ways was plain for all to see when the Wallabies, on the back of seven straight defeats, turned the heat up on the resumption and showed the home team how to turn chances into scores.

Two tries from winger Drew Mitchell and a wonderful effort from man of the match Chris Latham followed before Leinster winger Shane Horgan finally crossed the Aussie line with just minutes remaining.

That sole Irish try was no more than a consolation for Ireland however, and many of the Lansdowne Road faithful had already left for home at that stage.

The only plus points for O’Sullivan were the performance of his front and back rows and a useful debut for young Ulster center Andrew Trimble.

O’Sullivan had to admit afterwards, “We were taught a harsh lesson by the Wallabies out there today. I felt the performance was better than the New Zealand game last week but we didn’t take our chances.

“If you don’t take chances against a side like the Australians they will punish you. I don’t think we were that far off the pace but they scored at crucial times and that was the difference.

“We made a lot of errors and the third Aussie try was the killer when they stole possession on their own line, went all the way up the pitch and scored. It’s a lesson we have to learn and it was a harsh lesson today.”

The Ireland coach came in for heavy criticism afterwards but asked for the fans to be patient as he builds towards the Six Nations and attempts to impose a more creative game on his team.

“We made a decision that this year we’d try to be less predictable as a team and try and keep the ball in hand more. That means taking more risks,” said O’Sullivan.

“Maybe we had become predictable last season. We want to change the way we play. Despite facing two top teams over the last two weeks, we’ve run with the ball more than we have in other games.

“Of course there is a risk element in that. If you lose the ball in those situations you get punished severely and you do have to show a lot of composure under pressure. But that doesn’t come without trying things out it in the crucible of a Test match. We’re still in that process.

“They’re harsh lessons to learn but you must take the risks or won’t develop. The result against Australia doesn’t change the overall plan which is to try and push on and get some players on the pack.”

Ireland lock Malcolm O’Kelly was taken to hospital after a heavy collision with Aussies Late Tuqiri and Hugh McMeniman in the 18th minute.

“Malcolm was out cold when he was stretchered off and taken to hospital but thankfully he has come around and is fine now, thank God for that,” added O’Sullivan.

Ireland: Murphy; Horgan, Trimble, D’Arcy, Bowe; O’Gara, Stringer; Horan, Byrne, Hayes, O’Kelly, O’Callaghan, Easterby, O’Connor, Leamy. Replacements: McCullough for O’Kelly 18 mins.; Humphreys for O’Gara 53 mins.

Celtic Wins

CELTIC imposed their class on Rangers in an Old Firm derby once again with a 3-0 Parkhead victory on Saturday, a result that left captain Neil Lennon grinning like a Cheshire cat.

Man of the match Aiden McGeady, John Hartson and Bobo Balde were all on target as Celtic moved a massive 15 points clear of their Glasgow rivals at the top of the table.

So emphatic was the win that Lennon claimed afterwards that only a major disaster at Parkhead now can allow Rangers and their beleaguered manager Alex McLeish back into the title race.

Lennon claimed, “I wouldn’t be so arrogant as to dismiss Rangers completely but 15 points is a hell of a gap. There would have to be a major disaster, a collapse from us.

“We’d have to lose at least five games and they’d have to win every game. It gives us a fantastic bit of leeway but we still have Hearts breathing down our neck and it looks like they’re not going away — in the short-term at least.”

McLeish could be ousted as Rangers boss by the weekend after another abject performance from his players when it really mattered, a fact not lost on Lennon.

“I expected them to put in better performances,” added the Celtic skipper. “Despite their position in the league they have quality players and have proved that in the past so I would have expected more from them.”

Celtic boss Gordon Strachan expressed sympathy for McLeish as he hangs on his job by a thread after just two wins in 12 games, then added, “It’s just nice to look down from the top of the league so the points were important. I am happy — I couldn’t be any happier.

“The commitment from both sides was equal and the passion was equal, but we have players feeling better about each other at the moment.”

McGeady, playing in a central midfield role, ran the show from start to finish. “A few months ago, Aiden said to himself to get in this team, I need to produce a man’s performances in terms of defending and getting about,” Strachan said.

“He came in and had a great game at Falkirk, against Rangers in the CIS Cup and now in this one.”

Strachan now faces a selection headache ahead of this weekend’s clash with Dunfermline at Parkhead with strikers Chris Sutton (knee), Maciej Zurawski (hamstring) and Shaun Maloney (ankle) all on the treatment table.

“Shaun will be touch and go for the weekend and, at the moment, we’d have to look upon him as a real doubt,” admitted Strachan. “It’s far from ideal given that we’ve three strikers out already, but what can you do other than just get on with it?

“Sometimes you need to handle a spate of injuries like this but you’d certainly rather they didn’t all come in one specific area of the team. That’s making things quite difficult.

“I’ve no idea at the moment whether they’ll be ready. Zurawski’s now going full out, but it’s been a while since he’s played and we won’t put him in if the timing’s not right.

“Neither he nor Chris will be in the reserve team, that’s for sure, so again it’s going to be touch and go.”

Cork Champs

CORK City were crowned champions of Ireland on Friday night as a 2-0 home win over Derry City guaranteed a first league title for manager Damien Richardson.

Speaking after the game Richardson said, “It’s a special night, an emotional night for everybody here. I’m very happy to win a league, and I’m very happy for the players, but this is not about me, it’s about the club and the supporters, who have been magnificent.

“Congratulations to Derry, they gave us a lot to do over the whole year. They put in a huge effort and we really needed to pull out all the stops to get past them.”

Derry never looked like scoring on the night but manager Stephen Kenny was satisfied with a season that saw them finish second in the league.

“We finished ahead of Shels which is a fair achievement. We finished ahead of Bohs and Drogheda, who are all full-time squads, and Longford, who have a strong group of players,” said Kenny.

No Rugby At Croker

CROKE Park officials have ruled out the possibility of any Six Nations rugby internationals at GAA headquarters next season despite the continued closure of the North Terrace at Lansdowne Road.

“That is not going to happen — it’s not feasible at this moment in time,” said Croke Park’s stadium director Peter McKenna. “It will be 2007 at the earliest before we see other sports at Croke Park.”

GAA Shorts

EAMONN McEneaney is the new manager of the Louth football team. The former Monaghan player and boss was appointed as Val Andrews’ successor at a county board meeting on Monday night when he beat former Louth and Antrim player J.P. O’Kane to the job. Pat Mulligan, Stephen Melia and Seamus O’Hanlon have been named as selectors . . .

BILLY Morgan has been confirmed for another year in charge of the Cork footballers with Colman Corrigan, Sean Murphy, John Corcoran and Ted Owens again acting as selectors . . .

TYRONE’S All-Ireland winner Stephen O’Neill has named footballer of the year by the Ulster GAA writers. Down’s Martin Coulter was named hurler of the year . . .

DOWN star Benny Coulter is expected to be out of action for two months after surgery to cure a long-standing groin injury . . .

JOHN Kiely will take charge of the Waterford footballers for another year.

Soccer Shorts

SHELBOURNE have released seven players at the end of a disappointing season with former Irish international Curtis Fleming joined on the exit list by striker Glen Fitzpatrick, Hussain Yazdani, Kevin Doherty, Ger Rowe, Alan Cawley and Derek Pender . . .

RODDY Collins’ future as manager of Shamrock Rovers seems doomed after he was suspended by the club’s new owners and ordered to stay away from Tuesday night’s promotion-relegation playoff against Dublin City at Dalymount Park . . .

ANTHONY Gorman has the manager’s job at Finn Harps on a permanent basis after taking over from Felix Healy in a caretaker’s capacity in the summer . . .

IRISH goalkeeper Paddy Kenny has signed a new two-year contract with Championship leaders Sheffield United.