You will not see many better matches than that. Ireland were, technically, very poor in places. There was a lot of sloppy play from both sides and they lacked the magical bits of skill that Australia showed.

What Ireland did have though was a physical relentlessness that you’d struggle to see any side in world rugby replicating. Paul O’Connel, 35 years old, was utterly magnificent in defence today; he summoned every ounce of strength he had in every tackle and inspired his team mates to do the same.

It’s easy to be critical of defensive rugby, but when it’s done with the intensity and physicality that Ireland have shown this autumn then it’s an incredibly absorbing spectacle.

I’m off to do the England match now. It won’t be as good, but do join me there. Thanks for all your emails and tweets. Sorry I couldn’t use them all. Bye!

80 min Australia go through the phases but they’re not making ground. Cooper finds Ashley-Cooper on the left but Bowe and Madigan wrap him up. The Australian doesn’t release, penalty to Ireland!

79 min Australia run it and Toomua is driven miles back by O’Connell! Folau runs up to halfway and McCallman takes it on. It goes left and Skelton takes it on but this is outstanding tackling from the Irish!

Oh no, Sexton is off too. Murray is back on, having been assessed. He’s at 10, Reddan at 9.

78 min Hooper this time knocks on in the tackle from Madigan! And Reddan puts a great kick into touch behind Speight. Australia have the lineout, but they’re going to have to go from 70m. Kearney hobbles off, which is a shame for Ireland as he’s been magnificent today. Felix Jones replaces him.

77 min Australia try one offload too many and Robinson spills it on the 22! Madigan clears, advantage is over but he’s missed touch! This must be horrible for the fans.

76 min Australia make a mess of the Irish lineout. The home side win the ball, just, but then Hooper makes a nuisance of himself at the lineout and Ireland have been forced back into their 22. It’s cleared but not to touch. Here come Australia.

75 min Ireland get the penalty at the scrum! Sean Cronin gets a lot of well-deserved pats on the back and Sexton clears to touch.

73 min Will Skelton, the 6’8”, 21st lock, is on for Sam Carter and he immediately smashes through the gainline, up to the 22. Australia are sniffing around, looking for gaps, and they get a scrum on the 22 as the ball gets stuck in a ruck.

71 min This is a bit odd. Out of nowhere, Murray has been told that a doctor has called him off for a head injury, much to the scrum-half’s surprise. It’s from the accidental collision with Cooper earlier. That’s good to see.

Ireland’s scrum is a mess once again, but Reddan manages to get it clear.

70 min In case you’re interested, Barry Glendenning is doing a damn fine job at concentrating on Arsenal v Manchester United while this is on.

69 min Australia lineout, 20m out on the left. They win it and Cooper looks to put Speight through with an inside ball. That doesn’t come off but then Cooper dances past one man and puts Hooper into a gap. What an offload that was! It goes right, Australia have numbers, but then the last man is the prop Slipper and he knocks on in the tackle 10m out. Ireland defending as if their lives depend on it.

It’s 3-3 in Cardiff now.

68 min Best goes off, Cronin on. Australia win the lineout and Cooper stabs a lovely kick down the left. There’s panic in the ranks at the back as Kearney and Murray run into each other, the latter taking a bang on the head as Cooper charged up after it.

Will Genia is off the bench. Beale, Cooper and Genia off the bench. That’s ridiculous.

66 min Ireland win the lineout but Henshaw is hit well by Toomua. Ireland recycle and Murray sends up a high box kick for Bowe to take, but Beale does very well to claim it and Ireland fail to release the man on the ground. Australia clear up the left to halfway.

65 min Welcome to the game, Quade Cooper. Ireland secure the ball and Sexton’s clearance bounces up for Madigan, He’s tackled and Murray sends a lovely box kick over the top, behind Cooper, but Folau sweeps up and clears.

64 min Up steps Johnny Sexton and puts the sweetest of kicks through! It’s Ireland 26-23 Australia.

“Evening Dan. As good as this game is, after what happened in Kilmarnock this afternoon, you might as well just give the Webb Ellis trophy to Scotland now,” says Simon McMahon.

Meanwhile, Robin Hazelhurst is not in the pub: “Bah, my dodgy feed for your match has gone so I’m watching Wales instead and relying on your updates for Ireland. Nice to watch Wales leading a southern side as we all know how it’s going to end.”

62 min Australia come charging into the breakdown and are penalised for coming in at the side. This is a great chance for Sexton, 15m in and 42m out on the left.

61 min As I was saying. Great work at the scrum from Best and indeed from the tight five. Ireland win it against the head and Sexton prods a lovely kick into the corner. Australia go quickly and Foley clears to Zebo. The winger flings it inside to Kearney who belts an absolute monster of a drop goal effort from 41m out and just 5m in from the left, with his left foot, and it cracks against the post!

60 min Another wonky throw from Rory Best. He’s been poor in the set piece today, has the hooker. Madigan comes on for D’Arcy, who has an ouch.

59 min Sexton spins a nice pass out wide for Kearney, who chips ahead. The crowd think he’s been taken out off the ball by Speight but the referee, correctly, rules that the Australian winger was committed.

58 min Hooper comes up out the line to wrap up Bowe once again, but this time the winger gets his offload away and momentarily there’s a bit of space. Ireland are shut down but they’ve kept the ball.

57 min Foley clears long and Kearney runs back. He’s tackled and Ireland look to go through the phases in midfield.

56 min Good lineout and, after Henshaw takes it up on the crash ball, Bowe looks to burn towards the line on the right. He’s tackled and Hooper and Simmons wrap him up, form the maul and win the scrum.

55 min Great defence this by Ireland, O’Mahoney getting up on Toomua, who was on the wraparound and then Ruddock wins a penalty on the floor. Sexton kicks to touch, 31m out on the left.

54 min It’s not a great kick, Australia get a lineout 37m out on the right. Jake Schatz comes on for Jones for the Wallabies.

53 min Jones steals the lineout but Beale kicks the ball away. Ireland recycle but then a poor kick from Henshaw is caught on the full by Fainga’a. O’Connell doesn’t release his man in the ruck and Australia get a penalty on halfway.

51 min Luke Jones does great work again at the lineout, putting pressure on O’Connell at the maul just as Courtney Lawes did during England’s Six Nations win. He gets around too far here though, coming in at the side and conceding a penalty, which Sexton kicks down the right for a lineout on the Australian 22. Wales lead 3-0 thanks to a Halfpenny penalty.

50 min Yet another messy pass from Phipps and Foley can only find Kearney. The full-back launches up another high kick but Beale takes it. Australia run it and fire it left for Ashley-Cooper, who burns down the left wing but the ball goes loose when he’s tackled on halfway by Bowe and it bobbles out into touch.

49 min Level they are. Ireland 23-23 Australia.

48 min Ireland’s scrum gets twisted around, 30m from their own line, dead in front: that’s a penalty to Australia and the scores should shortly be level again.

47 min Kearney takes the ball and jinks out of his 22, but then Murray puts the clearance out on the full. Australia go quickly and Toomua puts Beale through a gap, but the inside centre’s pass is forward.

46 min The kicks is good. It’s better than good, it’s excellent. Ireland 23-20 Australia. Meanwhile Wales v New Zealand is underway. Beale comes on for Kurindrani.

44 min Ireland’s scrum is a mess but they get the ball out to Zebo on the left, on the Australia 10m line. It’s good defence from Australia but then Luke Jones is penalised for going off his feet. Sexton will go for goal from 43m, out to the left of goal.

43 min Toomua’s grubber kick through is blocked by Heaslip and Ireland recover possession. Sexton chips over the top and Phipps knocks on looking to gather it low down. Bad news for Ireland: Beale is warming up for Australia.

42 min Phipps throws another loose pass into his 22 but Kurindrani steps through the tiniest of gaps. The fly-halves exchange poor kicks and Australia carry it up to halfway.

41 min Sexton restarts the game and Toomua kicks straight to Kearney, but the full-back’s pass to Zebo bounces off the latter man’s chest and Australia are running it from inside their own half.

Well that was fun! Not if you’re an Ireland fan, I guess. From being in complete control they fell away in the second half of that half. The half-backs went from genius to liability in a moment, Sexton’s radar dying and their kicks inviting Australia’s backs to come and play some rugby as Ireland’s enthusiasm and intensity got the better of them. The likes of Folau, Speight and Toomua were utterly ruthless and half-time can’t have come at a better time for the home team. 40 more minutes of that, please!

40 min Sexton runs this time, on the wraparound in midfield but Australia’s rush defence is good and defends the gainline. Hooper gets too enthusiastic though and concedes a penalty. Sexton kicks for touch down the right, into the 22 and we’ll have one more play.

39 min Australia pinch the lineout but Phipps’ pass is wide of Foley and goes loose in the Australia 22. Ireland charge forward but the fly-half recovers well; it’s recycled to Toomua, who clears well.

38 min Australia go left again, their tails up now. Ashley-Cooper spots a gap in behind Bowe but his chip over the top goes out on the full.

37 min Foley bisects the posts from the left. Ireland 17-20 Australia.

36 min Australia are terrifying when running at pace. Toomua and Foley cut Ireland to ribbons down the left and the home side desperately scramble to drag the fly-half down. It’s moved inside, Kuridrani is tackled on the 22 and Ireland go off-side at a ruck.

34 min Another overcooked kick, this one from Sexton I think, and Folau takes it comfortably, calls the mark and clears. To compound things for Ireland, Best’s throw on the Australia 10m line isn’t straight under good pressure from Luke Jones.

Heh.

33 min Crikey, that’s a bad miss from Foley. We’ll forgive him though for the way he checked and drew the last man before supplying the try-scoring pass though.

30 min Ireland go blindside and Zebo looks to chip ahead. It’s charged down by Speight but Ireland win it back. Sexton kicks and Foley can’t take it under pressure from Kearney. Australia keep the ball and then Speight goes down the right.

28 min Australia get a penalty and kick to touch down the right, but Fainga’a’s throw on the 10m isn’t straight.

27 min Sexton looks to kick across for Zebo again but this time the left wing doesn’t read his fly-half’s intention and it bounces out for an Australia lineout.

26 min Sexton sends it high again after catching Foley’s clearance but there is no one better under the high ball than Folau. Now the two sides exchange kicks and Kearney chases and wins it just outside the 22. Ireland can’t find a gap but they have possession in a good position now.

25 min Ireland lineout on the Australia 10m line, on the left, and O’Connell wins it. They’re looking to maul upfield but this time Australia stand firm and Murray gets told to use it. Once again Sexton goes for the kick but it’s too deep down the middle and Foley calls the mark.

23 min Ireland can only blame themselves there, Murray’s poor pass to no one was what led to the try.

22 min What a tackle! Australia win the lineout, Foley kicks across perfectly for Speight and somehow Zebo keeps him out metres from the line. Australia recycle it and Foley dives for the line. We’re going to the TMO.

21 min Ireland under pressure now as Hooper gets up quickly on D’Arcy. Murray picks it up with his centre going backwards and flings a loose pass back towards his own line. Sexton picks up but can only find touch 12m from his line.

20 min That’s kind of a shame actually, I hope Ireland don’t go into their shell now and stick it up their jumpers. They’ve been utterly brilliant so far, taking Australia to pieces in the tight and shredding them when the defence has been stretched. Had Zebo’s offload there gone to hand then Sexton was in from 40m.

19 min Foley converts from under the posts. It’s Ireland 17-7 Australia. How are we a quarter of the way through this already?

16 min From 15m to the right of the sticks, Sexton adds the extras and it’s Ireland 17-0 Australia.

10 min Surprisingly, Sexton misses a fairly straightforward kick, pushing it off to the right. It remains 3-0.

9 min Chance for Henshaw! Kearney chases his own up-and-under, gets taken out in the air by Slipper but still claims it! O’Mahoney chips over the line into space and Henshaw chases into the 22. The bounce beats him on the left but we go back for a penalty to Ireland 38m out, just to the left of the posts.

7 min Bowe chases a high Murray box kick and the ball isn’t gathered cleanly. Ireland scramble and secure the ball inside the Australia half and after Murray looks to have a dart, Ireland move it left through the backs. They’re looking for the crash ball, 34m out, but Australia’s defence is solid and eventually the ball goes loose at a ruck, Australia secure it and Foley clears.

6 min 14m in from the left and around 39m out, Sexton steps up and curves a lovely shot between the sticks. Ireland 3-0 Australia.

5 min An exchange of kicks and Folau look to run it back, but Hooper is double-teamed by Best and O’Mahoney on the Australian 10m line. Hands in the ruck and Sexton gets a chance to go for goal.

4 min A good solid scrum from Ireland and they look to run it. Toomua tackles well and Sexton kicks. It’s straight down the throat of Kurindrani at 13 but a loose pass means Ireland can put the pressure on. Australia can recover and clear from their 22.

2 min We don’t actually have a clock or scoreboard. Kurindrani makes a break, cutting through a gap in midfield, but Zebo makes an excellent tackle and Ireland get the scrum at the breakdown, just outside their 22, centrefield.

1 min Ireland take the kick-off inside their 22 and Murray finds an excellent touch with his box-kick, on the right, just short of halfway. Australia win it and pass left along the line, but Kuridrani is hit well by Henshaw.

Kick-off! Here we go, Bernard Foley gets us underway in Dublin.

Anthems watch: they’re done. The rugby is about to begin! Ireland have changed two from the South Africa game, for those who couldn’t quite remember. Cronin and Payne are out, the latter with an injury; Rory Best and Gordon D’Arcy come in. Robbie Henshaw shifts out to 13.

Esoteric celebrities who have followed me on Twitter during these Autumn Internationals:

1. Taye Diggs of Stella Got Her Groove Back fame (he also followed my girlfriend)
2. The Brian Jonestown Massacre’s Anton Newcombe

Scotland have eased to a 37-12 win, in the end. Here’s John McEnerney on this main match*

I think it’s too soon to say how much Australia are improved under Cheika. He’s a very good appointment for them, yes, but I haven’t seen enough improvement to suggest they’re good enough to beat this Ireland side, which seems to be criminally underrated.

*Sorry, Wales fans.

Predictions, anyone? Ireland by 10 for me.

An Alex Dunbar try has helped Scotland extend their lead over Tonga to 25-12, while Brian Habana finished off an excellent move to make the final score Italy 6-20 South Africa in Padova. Which you’ll notice, is not Rome like I said earlier. Ahem.

Anyway, speaking of Scotland, I saw the country’s finest ever band play its finest ever album the other night in Manchester. They opened with this one:

An exclusive look at how Guardian Sport writers come up with their big match analysis:

We do have a Guardian Australia site now, so I suppose we should talk about them a little, no? For the neutral at least, their mixed form should be a blessing ahead of the World Cup: it only adds to the intrigue around what is arguably the only competitive pool in the competition, with none of the three tier one sides at the moment feeling entirely certain of a place in the quarter-finals. Uncharacteristically, their front row doesn’t seem all that shabby; rather it’s the loose forwards and locks who have struggled to make an impact of late. Of greatest concern is perhaps the form of Michael Hooper: not long ago the captain was the hottest young forward in rugby, ousting David Pocock and the man around whom the team could be built. Now he has several doubters to silence.

If the old adage is correct, that forwards win you matches and backs decide by how many, then Australia are screwed. The good news for them is that the signs are that the game is changing, with counter-attacking and running from deep the source of more and more tries. The outrageously talented Kevin Pietersen Kurtly Beale, back after the text message scandal, is yet another dangerous option and he can only make the bench. Their backs are as good as any on earth and won them the game against Wales, but there are few teams in the northern hemisphere at least less likely to give them any ball to work with today.

“Ireland are going to win the World Cup,” says Barry Glendenning. I’ve made it public now, Baz.

There are two matches underway already. Scotland are struggling with their discipline a bit and lead Tonga 14-12 at the start of the second half, Blair Cowan with a try from a lineout and Stuart Hogg bagging one on the counter-attack. South Africa and Italy are midway through the second half of their match in Rome and it will surprise no one that South Africa lead it, 15-6.

Tonga have just missed a long range penalty that would have given them the lead.

Preamble

Afternoon folks. Let’s start with some less-than-wise words.

What will be the cost of the continued indulgence of O’Driscollthrough declining form in the latter years? Like the Indian cricket team carrying Sachin Tendulkar, there were whispers that, while no one could begrudge him an extended farewell, it might be to the detriment of the team in the long-term. There are only 313 days until the World Cup kicks off and Ireland, with a draw that gives them their best ever chance of making an impact, are in transition.

– Some idiot

Well this is all going rather well for Ireland, isn’t it? Unbeaten since their Six Nations triumph earlier this year, two wins out of two on a tough tour to Argentina, one of their greatest ever performances in victory over South Africa two weeks ago and a comfortable-enough 49-7 win over difficult opponents Georgia for their second string last Sunday. Crisis? Transition? Pah! Ireland are, to the surprise of many (English) observers, the best-looking northern hemisphere side ahead of the World Cup.

Their opponents today are resurgent/in crisis (delete as appropriate) Australia. “We haven’t got a hope in hell,” says my colleague Ian McCourt, but the feeling among the neutrals is that Ian is being just the tiniest bit pessimistic. It’s not just that Australia’s results have been patchy lately – defeats to France and Argentina, a win in Cardiff and oh-so-nearly beating the All Blacks – but rather where their strengths lie. Their back division is probably the most exciting in world rugby, but Ireland’s best performances, such as those against Wales earlier this year and South Africa this autumn, have been based on throttling the life out of teams and removing opposition backs from the equation.

Australia’s hopes lie solely with Ireland’s half-backs, you would think. Although their two props, James Slipper and Sekope Kepu, made Opta’s team of the Rugby Championship, no one really expects them to compete with Ireland’s pack of granite monoliths in the set piece. You would therefore expect Johnny Sexton and Conor Murray to have to have very bad days, miss touch and kick to the lethal Australian back three for the visitors to be able to play to their strengths today. This is unlikely to happen.

Kick-off is at 4.30pm. The problem this creates, or rather that some idiot in charge of scheduling has created, is that it overlaps with the not-inconsiderable prospect of Wales v New Zealand. I’ll keep you updated with events there, because I’m afraid of the abuse I may get from Welsh fans otherwise nice like that. Here are your teams:

Ireland: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Gordon D’Arcy, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Conor Murray. 1 Jack McGrath, 2 Rory Best, 3 Mike Ross, 4 Devin Toner, 5 Paul O’Connell (c), 6 Peter O’Mahony, 7 Rhys Ruddock, 8 Jamie Heaslip.
Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Rodney Ah You, 19 Dave Foley, 20 Tommy O’Donnell, 21 Eoin Reddan, 22 Ian Madigan, 23 Felix Jones.

Australia: 15 Israel Folau, 14 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 13 Tevita Kuridriani, 12 Matt Toomua, 11 Henry Speight, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Nick Phipps. 1 James Slipper, 2 Saia Fainga’a, 3 Sekope Kepu, 4 Sam Carter, 5 Rob Simmons, 6 Luke Jones, 7 Michael Hooper (c), 8 Ben McCalman.
Replacements: 16 James Hanson, 17 Tetera Faulkner, 18 Benn Robinson, 19 Will Skelton, 20 Jake Schatz, 21 Will Genia, 22 Quade Cooper, 23 Kurtley Beale.

Dan will be here imminently.