Ireland denied by Wallabies

Robbie Deans began his reign as Australia coach with a winning start - although Ireland gave the Wallabies a fright in Melbourne.

Having performed admirably against New Zealand the previous week, Ireland produced another gutsy display, but just lacked the crucial cutting edge.

And ultimately two moments of incision saw Australia to a 18-12 victory, however there is still plenty for Deans to work on ahead of the Tri-Nations.

Ireland remained a threat throughout, though, with Denis Leamy scoring a try in the first half to give them the lead - but they just couldn't string together consistent phases to break down the hosts.

Berrick Barnes and James Horwill scored the crucial tries for the hosts, with Matt Giteau adding eight points from the boot.

Ireland, though, finished with a flourish with Brian O'Driscoll crossing his 33rd Test try in the second period.

Deans will have been delighted with the way his side got the match underway as Barnes crashed over after only six minutes.

Lote Toqiri did the damage down the left flank, charging over Rob Kearney on route to the line, and although O'Gara managed to haul him down, the Wallabies winger popped the ball up for Barnes to score.

Ireland, though, were in front after 15 minutes when Leamy drove over from a lineout.

Off-load

Leamy had actually set up the position for the tourists when his delicate chip to the corner was knocked out by Cameron Shepherd. A good throw was caught by Donncha O'Callaghan and with Australia on the back foot, Leamy broke off the maul to crash over. O'Gara converted.

Ireland's joy was shortlived, though, as another off-load in the tackle saw Australia back in the lead five minutes later. Peter Hynes' break set up the initial position before Giteau scythed through and popped the ball to Horwill to score.

Giteau converted and then added a penalty to move the Wallabies in to a 15-7 lead, however Ireland should have cut the deficit by three points on the stroke of half-time only for Peter Stringer to take a quick tap when a shot a goal seemed the better option.

And the hosts extended their lead after the interval with another Giteau penalty.

Ireland continued to press and had their moments, but too often passes went adrift or the ball was knocked on at the crucial moments.

Keaney's counter-attacking had the hosts constantly scrabbling back, while Paddy Wallace should have set replacement Eoin Reddan free after 51 minutes, however he held on too long.

Then Brian O'Driscoll really should have scored when he broke free five minutes later, but he opted to throw a wild pass inside and Shepherd was able to cover.

The Irish skipper, though, made amends on 62 minutes, when he latched on to Tommy Bowe's inside pass to dive over. O'Gara missed the conversion.

Ireland cranked up the pressure in a bid to add to their tally, however for the second successive week, their lineout failed to function, denying them a solid platform to attack from - and Australia were able to hold on.