Had the Wallabies managed to get over the line in their 22-19 loss to Ireland in Dublin, it would have been their finest defensive performance since the memorable effort against Wales in the 2015 World Cup group stages.

That’s how worthy the effort was as they repeatedly countered Ireland’s noted multiphase approach with a mixture of grit and intelligence.

Micro moments ultimately hurt them – Taniela Tupou’s failure to find Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii in space (a try was begging) and a Suaalii late charge that gave the Irish a better angle to kick to touch and launch their match-winning maul.

The margins are small, but the Wallabies have definitely narrowed them this year and Joe Schmidt should throw this stat at his players before they head off for summer: the Wallabies and All Blacks played the British and Irish Lions unions a combined nine times this year, and only lost twice.........

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